DONKEY TAXIS AND BULLFIGHTING IN MIJAS PUEBLO

 I have been researching Mijas Pueblo as a possibility for long term rental leading to permanent move. Just discovered that they have an active bullfighting ring. I am really confused as to how to react to this. I realise that to live in in Spain you have to respect local traditions and it would be arrogant to impose my sensibilities on local people , but I can't help my gut feeling of being appalled that this is still considered a form of entertainment in 2013. I eat meat, wear leather shoes etc so am I being a hypocrite or do any forum members who live in Spain find this difficult to accept. 

I also think I would find the donkeys being used to carry about tourists hard to stomach, especially if it is obvious that they are not being treated well. It is putting me off this particular area. Am I over reacting?

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spain is spain and they have been bullfighting for many years in the same way they have had donkeys doing their work.

i hated it when i first came the way i hated animal cruely

i was horrified to see bullfighting on tv and couldnt belive my eyes.

now i love bullfighting ** EDITED **

you learn to accept primitive cultures and get to love them.

 

This message was last edited by Mungry on 03/03/2013.

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 It's Spain! Famous the world over for bullfighting! You don't have to go and see one and nor do you have to take a donkey taxi. But it is Spain and it isn't going to change because you don't like it. Might I suggest Italy?

 

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Eileen - it's one of the aspects of Spain you and I would prefer was different, but aren't there aspects of any country or town that we don't like? You simply need to find a way of ignoring it and not supporting it. Obviously you won't buy a ticket for the bullfighting or indeed for the donkey taxis. But you have clearly recognised that it is inappropriate to arrive in a new country and immediately start to try and change it. Indeed, I often think that many of the British-run charities here in Spain for cats and dogs are quite divisive, as the Spanish (in the main) are not actively cruel to their dogs, they just don't treat them as pets the way we are more used to. So they look at all these dog charities and think the Brits are criticising their way of doing things.

I would probably NOT choose to live where I could hear the bullfight from my terrace, as I'd find that distressing. I would avoid that part of Málaga when there's fighting because the sound is massive and I don't want to think about what's going on. Having said that, the existence of bullfighting here in Spain has had zero impact on me. I find the horse / donkey carriages a bit smelly so usually pass by on the other side of the road, but then I do the same in Blackpool! Wen I have to visit London I am sickened by the levels of street homelessness. I can't fix it (though it usually triggers a charity donation once I'm home) and I know it exists, sadly.

If you find the very idea of bullfighting sickening, and if it would prevent you enjoying all the myriad delights that Spain offers, then you probably need to live in a town without a bullring, or indeed live somewhere else completely. But if you can rationalise it as something that goes on that you can avoid then just make sure your terrace doesn't overlook it.

But it was a good question to ask and should generate some interesting debate - well done for bringing it up, and I hope you find a way of resolving it. Good luck in your new life in Soain.

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I find it bizzare that people make such a fuss about animal cruelty in Spain when in the Uk it is far more common, badger baiting, hare coursing, illegal fox hunting, dog fighting, cock fighting etc etc

Currently in Bristol there is a spate of dog napping for use as bait at dog fights to the extent that local vets have posted notices in local newspapers.

I am appalled at some sights and stories I read in the ex pat papers and have witnessed first hand abandoned cats and dogs,however I appease my concious by doing what I can when I can to helping in any small way I can.

I believe that it will get worse as the financial climate worsens in Spain.

However eileen66 as Tamara said you can avoid the distressing situations and enjoy the real pleasures and treasures of Spain 

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 If you really feel you cannot live with bull fighting, you need to be very careful.   Lots of quite small pueblos have a temporary ring brought in for fiestas, and they might have 4 or 5 'fights'.    I choose not to go to see bullfighting, just like I choose not to hunt or shoot in the UK, but I do take visitors to see the beautiful and very old bullring close to me in Vera.  The history is fascinating, and I particulary like taking people to both the chapel and the infirmary - you do get a sense of the reality!!

By the way, I also choose not to eat meat from animals slaughtered in inhumane ritual 'ceremonies', but I suspect that this is a growing industry in the UK and that quite a bit of the meat going into schools and hospitals in the UK leaves a bit to be desired in terms of the 'killing'.   

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 Rob, I completely agree with you-that is why I asked the question. I wanted to know if other ex pats who had strong feelings about this had been able to get used to it and not get wound up every time they saw it, especially if they live in an area where they see it every day such as Mijas village. I don't think my husband would thank me for choosing an area to settle in and then moaning to him every day about something I could have avoided by living somewhere else. I realise it's me who would have to change, not Spain.

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 Well you wont see it operating every day!!  Bull fighting is very expensive and it is quite a short season generally.   I would imagine that anyone would get used to seeing a ring - think of it as historical.

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hi all

have to agree with bbbreakfast   in that there are loads of examples of in the uk, but most are illegal and kept under the radar, where in spaon it is legal and world renownoed for it happening, wheather that is right or wrong morally is a personnal choice, but legal it is.  I personnally would not have a problem living in an area that has bull fighting, wheather I would watch it I'm still not sure, my other half says she will never watch it, as stated it does not go on all year round so it a choice you have to make of canyou avoid the build up of the event as you go about your daily life..

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 Sorry, when I said every day I meant the donkeys. They may not be every single day but you know what I mean, enough that it is part of the experience of living there.

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 Only you can decide.   I don't know about this area, but generally donkeys and ponies/horses used to carry tourists are well looked after - and it is no different from taking a pony and trap around Central Park or the French quarter in New Orleans - my whole family enjoyed both.  Or husky dog sledding - which we have also enjoyed.   You are taking about a working pack animal - is it not better for them to work? 

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 Eileen, you might be reassured to know that the majority of Spaniards under 50 don't like bullfighting either.  It is artificially kept alive by government subsidies and the breeders'  lobby, a very powerful group of people (they can get up to 20,000€ per animal).   There are lots of anti-bullfighting campaign groups involving both Spanish and non-Spanish citizens - no way is it "culturally arrogant" to oppose a tradition which is barbaric and completely out of place in 2st century Europe.  

As for working donkeys, they are pack animals and are still used where I live to transport heavy loads (including people).  I don't think that's such a problem.  If they are genuinely being badly treated you can report the owners to a branch of the Guardia Civil called SEPRONA, who are responsible for enforcing animal welfare laws.  Mijas relies heavily on foreign tourism and wouldn't welcome any sort of bad publicity.

 

 

 

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There are many places in Spain where bullfighting doesn't go on. Catalonia and the Canary Islands have banned it altogether. Andalucia is one of a very few places where it goes on regularly so why not choose somewhere where it is no longer a part of accepted culture? It's also fairly popular in the South of France. Portugal has it but they don't kill the bull. However, don't think it is not cruel as they still stick spears in them and the bull is killed afterwards. Other regions just put them on during special fiestas. Torrevieja, for example, has one or two each year where a temporary ring is put up. But don't feel guilty about not accepting it just because it's a part of "culture". If we applied that to every country we couldn't speak out for women's rights in the Middle East and we'd still have cock fighting and bear baiting in the UK. The antitaurino groups are Spanish as well.

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 Slightly off topic - but I think we do nothing as Europeans for womens right across much of the globe.  We talk, and we sit back and continue to look after our commercial interests.  We don't do a lot for hundreds of thousands of suppressed women living in the UK - because of cultural sensitivity.  Sorry - just believe that all the talking masks the problems - and they are manifold!!!

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Roly2, they might not be headline news but I can assure you there are LOTS of people working to improve women´s rights, in Europe and across the world.

You can care about people AND animals, they aren't mutually exclusive.

This message was last edited by comadreja on 03/03/2013.

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Can somebody please tell me, what is puppy stomping? as mentioned by mungry. Kathy

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although andalucia hasnt banned bullfighting and they are quite rural people so never will do probably, they have closed the la linea bullring and made it into a sportsground.

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 No sorry - we are not.  We do nothing to even protest about the abuse and repression of women across huge chunks of the globe - for the sake of commerical contracts.  We tolerate it in the UK on the basis of cultural sensitivity.   

Groups and individuals do of course work to improve things.  Generally they don't improve until it is commercially beneficial to have improvements!!!      There is almost always an agenda.   Barcelona banned bullifghting because they wanted to 'stick it to the man' in Madrid - not because of protests or concern about the bulls.

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 Well Roly this is probably worth a thread of its own rather than hijacking this one.  I agree with what you say, but I do think you are being over-cynical!  Attitudes to animal welfare (including bullfighting) are changing in Spain, there is no doubt, even though it might take a generation or two before it is banned all over the country.

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 Eileen, I live in Mijas, it is lovely and the horses and donkeys are well treated as far as I have seen. The bullring is tucked away at the top of the village. We went to see one bullfight and strangely enough it is not barbaric in the sense of wanton cruelty. I don't believe the animals feel much pain and in some respects they gave as good as they got. It wasn't like the telly where the matador struts his stuff with hardly a graze, these fellas were getting tossed around so much I was beginning to think that the doctor in attendance would be required to do some serious work! Like most sport involving animals they are always going to lose but I honestly didn't feel as if the bull was treated with disrespect although they have no chance of a re-match! I wouldn't go again because I've seen it and once was fine, I don't need to do it again. The plus sides of Mijas far outweigh the negatives. There is a good sized ex-pat community many of which socialize with their Spanish neighbours through language classes etc. The council endeavours to involve everyone in 'the entertainment' and all in all, if you can forget about bull-fighting I'm sure you would love it here. 

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