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Runners Pummelled As Bulls Charge Streets In Spanish Festival

Runners Pummelled As Bulls Charge Streets In Spanish Festival

The festival took place in Pamplona shortly after topless animal rights activists staged protest

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

These pictures show the moment runners were chased and gored by bulls during an annual festival in Spain.

According to The Sun, three people were rushed to hospital at the start of the Running of the Bulls event in Pamplona, northern Spain.

A man is struck by one of the bulls.
JAIME REINA/AFP/Getty Images

The people that participate in the yearly San Fermin Festival run along a half-mile course through the streets of Pamplona chased by specially bred bulls.

In an initial injury round-up it was revealed that two people had been taken to hospital before a spokesman for Pamplona's Hospital Complex later confirmed that another man had also been gored.

One man received wounds to his left leg while the other two were brought into hospital with head injuries.

Revellers celebrate the official opening of the 2019 San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona.
PA

The festival, which runs for nine days, kicked off on Saturday at midday with the traditional 'chupinazo'.

Revellers turn up wearing red and white and are soaked in sangria.

Despite more than a million people attending the festival each year, activists stage regular protests over the treatment of animals.

Demonstrators protest against bullfighting in front of the City Hall a day before of the famous San Fermin festival.
PA

This year, 54 protesters set up a 'crime scene' cordoned off with yellow tape in the town. The supporters of PETA and Spanish animal protection group AnimaNaturalis represented each of the bulls who will endure a bloody slaughter in Pamplona this month after being chased down the streets.

The demonstration saw activists lie down inside the outlines of bulls on a piping hot square in Pamplona city centre.

Banderillas - the weapons used to stab bulls during bullfights - were sticking out of the protesters' backs, reminding onlookers that bulls are made of flesh, blood, and bones and experience fear and pain, just as humans do.

Demonstrators protest against bullfighting by lying down in front of the City Hall.
PA
An activist lays inside a silhouette of a bull with a spear in her back during the demonstration.
PA

All 54 activists were surrounded by signs which read: "Bulls Killed in Pamplona. Stop Bullfighting."

According to PETA, more than 80 per cent of Spanish people oppose cruel bullfights, and approximately 56 per cent fewer official bullfights took place in 2018 than in 2007, but the events are able to continue in large part because of tourist money.

According to the Mirror, more than 125 Spanish towns and cities have declared themselves anti-bullfighting, and three of the autonomous regions of Spain - the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, and Catalonia - have banned the spectacle.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, Spain, Animals