This article originally appeared on VICE SpainEvery year from the 6th to the 14th of July, Pamplona hosts the San Fermín festival. Attractions include a daily parade, rustic wood-cutting competitions and fireworks, but the most famous – and controversial – event is the bull run at 8AM every morning.A group of confused animals, freaked out by a level of noise they've never been exposed to, and spurred on by shouting and electric shocks, gallop after a crowd through Pamplona's narrow streets. Once the run finishes, all bulls end up meeting the same fate: being killed in a bullfight later that afternoon.
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Leonardo Anselmi is a spokesperson for Prou!, a platform fighting for a ban on bullfighting and the practise of correbous – a Catalan celebration where fireworks are attached to a bull's horns. "Although we'd like to believe that the bulls are the ones chasing people, it's the opposite," says Anselmi. "They try to flee because they're terrified."
Everybody's seen the images of the bulls running through the streets of Pamplona, but Anselmi points out that it's important people recognise the run finishes "with the bulls locked in stalls where they wait for the bullfight in the afternoon, when they will be speared until they bleed to death".Although a ban on bullfighting seems a long way off, Anselmi says, "There's no future for bullfighting. Aside from the ethics, it's way too expensive. If the state stops subsidising it, the arenas will have to close their doors."The San Fermín festival isn't just a place where lovers of bullfighting come together; it's also a hotspot for lovers of animal rights, who gather to protest the event. One of the animal rights groups in attendance this year was Colectivo Britches, a collective of activist artists who aim to fight animal abuse by making it visible. They documented the bullfight on the 14th of July, the last night of San Fermín. You can see some of their photos below.More on VICE:Teenage BullfightersPhotos from Japan's Ancient Bullfighting Ritual
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