Kate del Castillo Is Leading the Charge Against Pamplona’s Bloody ‘Tradition’ in New Ad
Internationally renowned actor and PETA honorary board member Kate del Castillo never backs down from a fight for animal rights. She joined PETA to show Pamplona her horns and let it know that bullfighting is bullshit. The Running of the Bulls during the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain, is a “tradition” rooted in cruelty and injustice, and it’s time for it to end!
Although more than 125 Spanish towns and cities have rejected the torment and butchering of bulls for entertainment and only 2% of Spaniards visited a bullfight in 2021–22, there are still barbaric events desperate to attract tourists, including the Festival of San Fermín, in which bulls are subjected to terror and torment before they’re violently killed.
During the Festival of San Fermín, which takes place in Pamplona from July 7 to 14, six bulls (uncastrated males) and at least six steers (young neutered males) are released into the streets each day before being corralled into the bullring. The frantic animals often fall or crash headfirst into walls while running at full speed, sometimes causing them to break bones or even die.
Once the bulls are in the ring, tormentors stab each one with lances and harpoon-like banderillas until he becomes weakened from blood loss. Then, the matador stabs the exhausted animal with a sword, and if he doesn’t die quickly enough, other weapons are used to cut his spinal cord. If the crowd is happy with the matador’s performance, the bull’s ears and tail will be cut off and presented to the matador as trophies. After a few minutes, another bull enters the arena, and the sadistic cycle begins again. This year, 60 bulls will be horrifically abused and killed over the course of the week as thousands of people applaud.
Bulls are sentient beings with unique personalities who form complex social bonds. They shouldn’t be tortured for laughs in these heinous spectacles.
What I say to people who think that it’s culture: It is not. It is torture!
—Kate del Castillo
Join Kate del Castillo in Working to End Bullfighting
PETA U.K. and the Spanish group AnimaNaturalis have protested against Pamplona’s annual bloodbath for two decades with powerful demonstrations. In 2021, PETA U.K. offered the city’s mayor €298,000 to cancel the Running of the Bulls, and that offer still stands.
Please help end the vile torment and killing of bulls in Pamplona by signing our petition to urge the mayor of Pamplona to end the Running of the Bulls and subsequent bullfights during the San Fermín festival:
