Of all the forms of bullfighting, the one performed with calves-known as Becerradas in Spain- are undoubtedly the cruellest. Mainly for two reasons:

First, because in them animals under 2 years of age are tortured and killed, and therefore the usual physical and psychological suffering of the animals during bullfights is increased due to the calves’ greater fragility, reduced reaction capacity and their desperate need to feel protected by their mothers and herd. That is why, although the adult bull hardly moos when attacked in order to show strength, the desperate bellows of pain and panic of these small animals during the fight, trying to attract the help of their own, tear the heart of anyone having a minimum of sensitivity.

Second, because calf-fighting is usually practiced by inexperienced people, like students of bullfighting schools, amateurs or the general public, who stab the instruments of torture in the wrong places of the animal body, often extracting them and nailing them again and again after unsuccessful attempts, causing a torment without equal to these small animals.

Find out more about the suffering of the calves during becerradas with this report from AVATMA: Veterinary technical report on calf-fights. (in Spanish. Please use automatic translation)

Therefore, although we think that any form of bullfighting must end, it being a form of gratuitous violence towards animals, becerradas must be eradicated immediately, because not only are they an atrocious form of torture to young animals, but inside of the bullfighting world there are many who think that they damage the image of the supposed "fiesta" and should also be eliminated. Thus, their elimination obtains more consensus between both parties than any other form of bullfighting.

The Presence of Minors

One of the most damaging aspects of calf-fighting for society is the frequent presence of minors in them, either as spectators or as torturers themselves (see video). This aberration makes children and youngsters active agents of this violence towards young animals, contravening what was indicated by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which in 2018 urged Spain to prohibit the participation of children under 18 as bullfighters or spectators of bullfighting events in order to prevent the harmful effects of such violence on them and their desensitization towards the suffering of the animals, realized by the mere fact of entertainment.

Consequently, we demand:

The necessary national and regional regulation is carried out so that bullfights cannot be performed, in public or private, with bovine animals under 2 years of age, whether the animals are publicly killed or not, in any Autonomous Community in Spain.

These shows are regulated by the Regulations of Bullfighting Shows in those Autonomous Communities that have their own or the National Regulation of Bullfighting Shows in those Autonomous Communities that do not have their own regulations. We demand that measures be taken from the corresponding Autonomous Communities in the first case and from the Ministry of Culture for the second, or from any central or regional body with the competency to do so.

The prohibition of the active or passive participation of children under 18 years of age in the bullfighting, following the recommendations of the world's leading authority on children's rights (UN CRC), and complying with article 39, point 4 of the Spanish Constitution that establishes that "Children will enjoy the protection provided for in international agreements that protect their rights."