Brussels Semi-naked animal rights activists, their bodies spattered with fake blood and with darts – or pics – protruding from their backs, lie on the pavement outside the European Parliament to bring attention to the cruelty of bullfighting.

The protest was organised by the campaign group Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) to draw attention to how much suffering is caused to the beasts during the traditional corrida.

The long, colourful barbed darts, which the protesters had attached to their backs, are known as banderillas and are thrust into the body of an animal to wound and weaken it before it is engaged by the matador in a display of skill before being killed. The sport continues to be popular in Spain despite growing opposition to it. Peta believes that the EU has not done enough to outlaw bullfights.

Several MEPs severely criticised bullfighting last year and demanded that the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, ban it.

The pro-bullfighting group Mesa del Toro said in response that the spectacle was part of the European heritage and that the European Commission did not have the authority to ban a “cultural and traditional” activity that had been held for centuries in Spain. (AFP)

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