George Mathias
SPAIN’S famous Running of the Bulls festival is getting underway, despite large protests against the event.
The infamous nine-day event in Pamplona sees a group of bulls released into sectioned-off streets which people enter before attempting to run away from the animals.
The Spanish tradition of bull-running began in northeastern Spain, and has been documented since at least the early 14th century.
Each year between 50 and 100 people are injured during the run and over the years several people have been gored to death.
Photo: Cordon Press.
Dozens of animal rights activists dressed up as dinosaurs and were ‘chased’ by others on July 5 in a protest against a tradition they condemn as cruel and outdated.
Chelsea Monro, of PETA said: “Bullfighting is the long ritualized execution of bulls and many tourists who come and do the bull-running don’t actually realize that the same bulls they’re running down a couple of streets with are later killed in the bull ring that day.”
Despite big protests, the event is still likely to attract hundreds of thousands of people with the town normally peaking at five times its usual population.
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