Morrissey pleads with Spanish prime minister to ban bullfighting: “Hideous spectacle”
Controversial musician and long-time animal activist Morrissey has teamed up with PETA to urge the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, to ban bullfighting.
Ahead of his forthcoming shows in Barcelona and Madrid on July 25th and 29th, Morrissey has released an open letter insisting that the blood sport stop immediately.
In the letter, shared with Far Out, Morrissey begins, “Spain has elevated the world with extraordinary music, art, literature, and dance, yet bullfighting continues to tarnish its reputation on the global stage.”
The musician went on to add evocatively, “A terrified and tortured animal dying in earnest, drowning in his own blood because a man has tortured and stabbed him, is cruelty to animals that cannot be excused as ‘culture.’ Velázquez, Lorca, Cervantes, flamenco are culture.”
He added that there have been “overwhelming calls to ban this hideous spectacle,” before insisting “it must stop”. In the same breath, Morrissey suggested that the “public purse” might be used for other “worthy programs”.
He went on to reference his 2014 track, ‘The Bullfighter Dies’, which came from his album, World Peace Is None of Your Business.
The former Smiths frontman wrote, “I once sang, ‘The bullfighter dies, nobody cries…’ And if bullfighting dies, there will be cheers, not tears. The generosity, warmth, and brilliance of the Spanish people will shine unblemished. Only the relic of a less enlightened time will vanish.”
The letter added, “History condemns those who defended cruelty. It remembers those who ended it.”
Before signing off, Morrissey had one last plea for Sánchez: “Prime Minister, please use your good office to do something that the world and your people will love you for, and end this barbarism.”
Morrissey isn’t alone in this fight; there has been a renewed political push in Spain, wherein 52 Members of Parliament have reintroduced the No Es Mi Cultura (It’s Not My Culture) citizens’ legislative initiative to Congress, which aims to strip bullfighting of its protected cultural heritage status.
Morrissey has beaten this drum before, after previously campaigning alongside PETA to ask Pope Francis to condemn church-blessed bullfights.
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