During the 2026 Goya Awards gala, PETA supporters stormed the red carpet with banners proclaiming: “Art creates. Bullfighting kills.”
The protest aimed to denounce the documentary “Tardes de Soledad”, directed by Albert Serra, accused of offering a romanticized view of bullfighting.
The documentary and the controversy
Serra thanked the recognition during the ceremony and defended his work as an intimate look at a theme “that perhaps not everyone likes.”
The documentary had already received praise at the San Sebastián Festival, where it won the Golden Shell. However, for PETA, it is an attempt to glorify a declining tradition that the majority of Spaniards reject.
PETA’s international campaign
The protest is part of a global campaign that seeks to highlight animal suffering linked to bullfighting and demand governmental measures.
- PETA argues that bullfighting should not be considered art or tradition, but a violent practice.
- The organization spread an invitation on social media to sign a petition addressed to the Spanish government to ban bullfights.
- Celebrities like Georgina Amorós, Charo, and Sir Paul McCartney have joined the cause, as well as Mexican figures like Kate del Castillo, Dulce María, and Michelle Renaud in PETA Latino.
Social rejection and political debate
Bullfighting faces growing rejection: 8 out of 10 Spaniards consider it unacceptable.
Last month, the Spanish government proposed banning minors from attending bullfights, following a reprimand from the UN, which also recommended similar measures to Mexico.
Cruelty in bullfights
During a bullfight, bulls are subjected to a process of systematic violence:
- The picadores stab spears into their back and neck.
- Banderillas are thrust into their body to weaken them.
- The matador attempts to kill them with a sword in the lungs or, if he fails, with a dagger in the spinal cord.
- Often, the bull is paralyzed but conscious while its ears or tail are cut off as a trophy. Each year, tens of thousands of bulls die in bullfighting events worldwide.
PETA’s protest at the Goya Awards reignited the debate about bullfighting and its cultural representation. While some defend the tradition as part of heritage, more and more voices — including international organizations, celebrities, and a large part of the public — point to it as a practice incompatible with current values of respect towards animals.
PETA Latino, whose motto partly states that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” points out that Each animal is someone and offers Empathy Kits for free to people who need a lesson in compassion. For more information, visit PETALatino.com or follow PETA Latino on X, Facebookor Instagram.
