Sir Paul McCartney launches anti-bullfighting appeal in Madrid

Ahead of his tour dates in Madrid, Sir Paul McCartney is calling on everyone to come together and put an end to cruel bullfights in a blitz of PETA campaign appeals lighting up digital screens across Gran Vía. The can’t-be-missed plea – in which the music legend declares, “I am Paul McCartney, and I oppose bullfighting” – comes as animal rights advocates in Spain gather signatures for the No Es Mi Cultura popular legislative initiative, which aims to repeal the law that designates bullfighting as “cultural heritage” and empower Spanish communities to prohibit the violent blood sport.

“Bulls feel pain and fear just as humans do, yet in the bullring they’re terrorised, mutilated, and barbarically slaughtered in front of jeering crowds,” says PETA Vice President for Europe Mimi Bekhechi. “PETA urges compassionate people everywhere to join Sir Paul McCartney in taking a stand against these bloody, merciless spectacles.”

In nature, bulls are calm, social individuals who are protective of their fellow herd members. During bullfights, assailants on horses drive lances into a bull’s back and neck before others plunge banderillas into his back. When the bull becomes weak from blood loss, a matador attempts to kill the animal by plunging a sword into his lungs. A knife is used to cut his spinal cord. The bull may be paralysed but still conscious as his ears or tail are cut off and presented to the matador as a trophy and his body is dragged from the arena. Tens of thousands are slaughtered this way annually in bullfighting festivals around the world.

International condemnation of bullfighting has continued to grow, including in Spain, where 93% of young people say they don’t support the cruel spectacles. More than 100,000 PETA supporters have urged Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to ban bullfighting.