The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, in an act for the protection of bullfighting as cultural heritage in the Plaza de Las Ventas, in August.Fernando Alvarado / EFE
Unesco's Intergovernmental Committee for the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity has decided to exclude bullfighting among the requests for this recognition in 2021. Several personalities and groups in defense of animals had promoted the label #NoTauromaquiaEnLaUnesco on the networks in recent weeks social protests against the possible inclusion of bullfighting on that list.
One of these groups, the Torrent Animal Defense Association in Valencia, points out that nearly 1,000 organizations from different countries had joined this campaign.
On the contrary, groups in favor of bullfighting, such as the International Association of Bullfighting, have tried for years to have the favorable declaration of Unesco in the face of the growing criticism in society of this show for animal abuse and the decline of interest to the public.
France declares bulls intangible cultural heritage
Bulls, despite the rejection and controversy that surround them, have been recognized as local or regional heritage in Spain and several countries in America and nationally in France.
Unesco has been criticized in the past for declaring activities such as charrerías (horse shows) in Mexico as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The 61 files that are under consideration by the UN organization for culture for next year include Spain - along with almost twenty countries - in a request in favor of falconry, the practice of breeding and domesticating falcons and other birds for hunting.
