British expats protest funding of bullfight with taxpayers money

British expats in Malaga took part in an anti-bullfighting protest after they’d discovered the event had been funded by taxpayers’ money.

Organised by the Malaga Animal Save group, the matador training event took place last Saturday at Coin’s Plaza de Toros. At the same time, a 1,300 strong petition was set up by a local Spanish resident, demanding Coin town hall reimburse the cash spent on financing the event. Just five expats joined the demonstration, but feeling amongst local expat residents is running high as several requests to hold a peaceful protest of up to 30 people were ignored by the local authority in spite of daily phone calls by the group.

One participating expat protestor told reporters Coin residents had not been informed about the training session in spite of its being funded via local taxes. Vegan Jeni Obard has lived in Malaga for two years after moving from the Isle of Wight, and described the fate of the bulls as ‘extremely traumatic. He recalled blood dripping from the truck which took the bulls’ carcasses away after the event finished, adding that parents brought their children to watch without a thought of the desensitisation it causes, believing it’s culture and an art rather than torture.

During the training event, five bulls were killed, with campaigners claiming the deaths were far more painful as novice matadors aren’t yet trained to kill in a humane manner. According to a local authority spokeswoman, tax money was indeed used to part-fund the bullfight, but other moneys came from the bullfighting academy a well as other local organisations. The event was set up by Toros de Mediterraneo and Escuala Taurina Diputacion de Malaga.

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