When the 29-year-old professional bull fighter Victor Barrio stepped into Teruel‘s bull fighting arena during last Saturday’s annual Feria del Ángel, he probably didn’t expect not to leave the scene alive. Because even though some severe injuries have come to pass over the past decades, the last time a matador actually died in the ring was back in 1985. The ending, as usually written, has the bull succumbing after numerous stab wounds and the “matador” ends up to be the hero. But then Victor encountered a 1,161 pound beast named Lorenzo.
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Not only did hundreds of spectators in the sold-out arena, including Victor’s wife, get to witness the shocking images of Lorenzo’s fatal thrust into Victor’s chest, lungs and heart, but so did thousands of viewers of the live broadcast. Within minutes, the news and gory images had become world news. And the world reacted harshly.
People have been protesting against bull fighting for as long as it existed, calling it no less than “disgraceful animal abuse” and gainsaying those who think of it as an ancient “majestuous art.” But despite the protests, 40,000 bulls a year are slaughtered in Spain during the shows, according to PETA. But when a person dies, protests rise to a whole new level. On Victor’s now deleted Facebook-page, for example, many people were praising Lorenzo for giving a perceived animal abuser what he deserved. Similar captions can still be found on Instagram.
Animal rights groups calling for total abolition of bull related traditions rarely had a voice as loud as today. Because not only was Lorenzo put to death after killing Victor, tradition also required his mother Lorenza to be slaughtered, to ensure the “murderers” bloodline can not continue . Furthermore, there also was a human fatality during Pamplona’s famous San Fermin Running of the Bulls, and another one at a similar run through Pedreguer, near Valencia.
Will Spain’s bloodiest weekend in decades cause the country to finally consider welcoming modernity? Because bull fighting originated from a very ancient need to prove one’s bravery, and the animal loving team at Resource Travel is convinced that there are better ways to do that. Bungee jumping, for example. Since 1985, no less than eighteen people have died during this ancient majestuous chord dangling art, versus only two in bull fights. So how about thát as an act of bravery?
Nevertheless, we would like to express our deepest sympathy to Victor’s family and friends, and we condemn those who celebrate his death. But we do hope that all of last week’s deaths eventually serve to put a stop to these barbaric traditions. Because each fatality is one too many – don’t you agree?
