Anti-bullfight group protest against 'abhorrent torture of innocent animals' in Marbella

A group of animal welfare activists gathered outside Marbella town hall (Plaza de los Naranjos) on Thursday 8 August to protest against the continuation of bullfighting in the town. The organisers explained that the demonstration took place directly outside the office that authorises these events, which the protesters called an “abhorrent torture of innocent animals”.

The protest came before last Friday's sell-out Corrida de Candiles bullfight in the town's bullring.

The activists were denied permission to hold their demonstration outside the bullring, allegedly due to a planned counter-protest - an event for which they said “no evidence has been presented”.

Throughout the protest, curious tourists and locals arrived in the square, many signing the petition to ban bullfighting.

“Shockingly, some visitors were unaware the practice still occurred in Marbella. They were also unaware of the brutal truth: bulls endure suffering even before the fight begins, leading to a slow, violent death in front of a jeering crowd,” the group said in a statement released after the protest.

Under the banner of ‘Not in our town: not with our taxes’, this was the second protest to be organised by the group in Marbella this summer.

A spokesperson for the group said that, “Marbella has so much more to offer,” and demanded that “the bullring be put to better use”.