Spanish Protesters Get Naked to Rally Against Bullfighting

Some people will choose the most unusual occasions to get naked. How about bullfighting? The ultimate protest occurred in Spain, and the news is going viral on Internet news from India to New Zealand. “Get naked” is something everyone understands.

The ultimate interesting style of protest emanated from Spain with the naked lying down on a soccer field to protest the sport of bullfighting. Long the tradition of Spain, along with the romantic stories that accompanied it in the cinema, the fact that bulls are hurt and the sport involves the killing of the bull as a spectacle sport while putting lives at risk isn’t sport to many people. So protest goes with naked when it comes to expressing sentiment these days, at least as a radical approach to it. According to Spanish history online descriptions and travel information, bullfighting is an integral part of Spanish society, with a history of fiestas and events that take place with it. One notation gives a historical overview of bullfighting, telling the reader that there is evidence from a wall painting found on Crete, dating from approximately 2000 BC, of bullfighting, depicting male and female acrobats confronting a bull, grabbing the horns of the bull while the animal charges, and then jumping over its back. The description continues of bullfights that were popular events in ancient Rome and enjoyed by the Moors of North Africa. These days the bullfighting spectacle is described as an elaborate occasion ordinarily for one afternoon’s major event, six bulls to be killed by three matadors, with each encounter lasting about 15 minutes. The matadors are the show’s stars, wearing elaborate costumes that can be quite expensive. When the bull enters the arena, it is greeted by the matador doing a series of cape. The matador receives applause from getting as close as possible to the bull’s horns as he does so fearlessly. The second part of the event consist of picadors, who are men on horseback carrying lances, who do three lancings or less of the bull near the shoulders so the animal is forced to lower its head for the kill. Trumpets sound, and the last act begins, with the matador easing into positions of danger, balancing between suicide and survival, which is seen as an internal struggle in the face of death. After making several passes, the fighter takes the sword, lining the animal up for the kill and plunging the sword for what is known as the “moment of truth.” Barcelona became the first place in Spain to stop the practice of bullfighting, despite protests of aficionados. In the meantime the debate continues over the practice of bullfighting, with one side saying it is art and the other cruelty to animals. It appears those who got naked to object to the practice of bullfighting have not the souls of the artist but instead those of animal activists, which trades the romantic notion of high risk and adventure for concern for animals instead. But at least those with that concern had what some folks might view as another kind of pleasure, getting naked together, which people in the United States talk about as recreation.