Network demands action to shield children from bullfighting

In January, the Spanish Government committed before the United Nations to protect children from the violence of bullfighting. This decision comes after UN concerns about children being involved both as participants and as spectators in bullfighting events.

Network demands action to shield children from bullfighting | Image generated with DALL·E, OpenAI

The International Anti-Bullfighting Network welcomes this commitment and calls on the Spanish Government to take real action to make it effective. In 2018, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child already urged Spain to protect children from bullfighting, but so far little has been done. Meanwhile, some regional and local authorities continue to involve children in these violent events.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has raised serious concerns about the impact of bullfighting on children, and our Network shares these concerns, not only in Spain, but also in other countries where bullfighting still takes place.

Actions on behalf of Network

To push for meaningful change, the Network has taken the following actions on behalf of its members:

• Sent a letter to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child thanking them for their ongoing work and urging them to continue advocating for the protection of children worldwide. In the letter, we emphasized that no child or adolescent should be exposed, directly or indirectly, to violence linked to bullfighting or any other form of harm to animals.  We also urged the Committee to keep advocating for strong protections so that no child anywhere, in Spain or other countries where bullfighting occurs, is exposed to violence against animals, either directly or indirectly.
• Sent several letters to the Spanish Government, specifically to the Presidency of the Government as well as the Ministries of Youth and Childhood, Culture, Interior, and Agriculture. In that letter, we also thanked the Government and the Minister of Youth and Childhood, Dña. Sira Rego, for their commitment to protecting children and adolescents from all forms of violence, including violence against animals. We asked the Government to support this commitment through concrete policies and laws, and we respectfully urged Spanish authorities to amend Organic Law 8/2021 (LOPIVI) to ensure that all minors in Spain are fully protected from violence against animals. We highlighted the need for concrete measures that make Spain’s commitment real, not just symbolic.
• Letters have been sent from our members to Spanish embassies in their countries, reinforcing the call for action and raising international awareness about the risks children face in bullfighting. This helps ensure the message reaches both national and global decision-makers.

While Spain’s declaration before the UN signals a positive commitment, real change requires legislation, public policy, and enforcement that ultimately protect children and adolescents from violence, whether as spectators or as active participants. The Network welcomes the Government’s position but continues to press for effective and binding measures that ensure this commitment is realized.