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Supporters and opponents of bullfighting recently marched on the streets of several cities in southern France.
Earlier this month, an opinion study said about 75 percent of the French public want to ban bullfighting. But a small group of supporters say it is a tradition that should continue.
Baptiste is a 16-year-old boy training to be a bullfighter in southern France. He lives in Arles, a town close to the Mediterranean Sea.
Baptiste says the people who want to ban bullfighting do not understand Corrida, another name for bullfighting.
“Corrida is a tradition, an art, a dance with the bull,” Baptiste said. He is one of about 12 students in Arles learning how to fight bulls.
The people in France who do not like bullfighting wonder how it can be called an “art” when an innocent animal is killed at the end.
During a recent protest march, one sign read: “Corrida is not a fight, it’s the execution of a tortured innocent.”
Aymeric Caron is a French lawmaker who sent a bill to parliament that would ban bullfighting. It is currently being debated.
He said some parts of France permit bullfighting as long as fewer than 1,000 bulls are killed each year. Just because it is a tradition, he said, does not “morally justify a practice.”
The people in France who do not like bullfighting wonder how it can be called an “art” when an innocent animal is killed at the end.
During a recent protest march, one sign read: “Corrida is not a fight, it’s the execution of a tortured innocent.”
Aymeric Caron is a French lawmaker who sent a bill to parliament that would ban bullfighting. It is currently being debated.
He said some parts of France permit bullfighting as long as fewer than 1,000 bulls are killed each year. Just because it is a tradition, he said, does not “morally justify a practice.”
Yves Lebas runs the bullfighting school in Arles. He said some have wanted to ban bullfighting forever. “But they never managed, because people said ‘no.’”
Words in This Story
practice –n. an activity that is done again and again
glorify –v. to make something seem better or very important
manage –v. to succeed in doing something
*This article has been edited and reprinted from VOA Learning English with permission from Voice of America (VOA) for use in English language materials.
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