The indefensible in the name of tradition
Discover our latest podcast
The "toro de fuego" is a bull that has balls of flammable product attached to its horns and lit at sundown. The bull is then released into city streets for an hour, where festival-goers dodge it.
Before the start of the show, the animal is of course tied up and firmly controlled by a team while they attach a wooden frame with two iron spikes carrying hemp balls doused in pitch, resin or turpentine to its horns. They then light them up and cut the rope. Fireworks are sometimes included and set off at the beginning of the race.
The terrorized animal is often burned and can end up blind if it doesn't die altogether. Last year, a totally frightened and blind bull killed itself by running into a tree trunk. The video shocked the internet... yet this practice is still allowed.
A practice that has been reported by nonprofit organizations
In recent years, animal rights advocates have managed to abolish this practice in some Spanish provinces, but unfortunately not everywhere. Bulls are being gradually being replaced by a strong and courageous artificer, carrying a bull made of wood or paper mâché held by a metal frame on his back.
The fake horns carry the same system of flammable balls and fireworks. The loaded artificer runs in the middle of the crowd, parodying the infamous "bull of fire"...The "Animal Naturalis" association denounces this normally prohibited practice, saying that more than 3,000 bulls are still undergoing this treatment all over Spain.
