There are rituals that - although they are violent, dangerous and now obsolete - in the name of tradition radically resist the passage of time and the controversies raised by citizens and environmental associations. This is the case of the Spanish bull run of San Firmino, held every year in Pamplona, where the same sad events are repeated every time: dead and wounded and bulls instigated to violence.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
There are rituals that - although they are violent, dangerous and now obsolete - in the name of tradition radically resist the passage of time and the controversies raised by citizens and environmental associations. This is the case of the Spanish race of the bulls of San Firmino, held every year in Pamplona, where the same sad events are repeated every time: dead and wounded e bulls instigated to violence.
During of the macabre ritual (which lasts 8 days), with the bulls being released and pushed to run quickly through the streets of the city in pursuit of the participants, the game (so to speak) provoked well 40 injured, of Spanish and non-Spanish nationality, aged between 19 and 41 years; a sign that traditions tend to take root also in the younger generations.
In fact, immediately after the opening of the event, well attended 3000 people, the number of injured was already two: the participants had been hit by a bull and were immediately transported to the hospital, where a minor trauma was found, probably due to the fall.
Another case, this time much more serious, involved an Australian tourist who, in order to challenge a bull, had tied a red handkerchief to his waist, encouraging the animal to gore it. The bull severed his femoral artery and is now in serious condition.
This traditional rite, which records deaths and injuries every year, has always been accompanied by protests from environmentalists who fight for the abolition of the event, rightly judged as barbaric and unacceptable, especially because the bulls that survive the mad race however, they find death in the final bullfight which closes the event.
Isn't it time to revolutionize this party?
Verdiana Amorosi
