Bread and Bulls anti-speciesist book

Foreword by Silvia Barquero, from the animal rights party PACMA.

Defenders of bullfighting have been insisting for years that anti-bullfighting is a simple fad. By trying to reduce anti-bullfighting thought to a mere passing issue, they try to minimize the historical, sociological, philosophical and political impact of this current, so it is worth asking: is anti-bullfighting really a fashion? Is it something current or, On the contrary, in Spain has anti-bullfighting thought existed for centuries?

The truth is that, historically, bullfighting has had significant detractors. The first sign of contempt towards bullfighting that we find in our history dates back to the 13th century. Since then, bullfights have been criticized at all times. Prominent jurists, writers, painters, philosophers, religious people, politicians, journalists and historians denounced bullfighting at every historical moment, considering it as a barbarism that must be questioned, fought and, ultimately, eradicated. Furthermore, since ancient times, one of the foundations of Spanish anti-bullfighting thought has focused on denouncing that animal suffering can never be an object of entertainment or fun.

However, and despite the historical importance of the women and men who throughout the centuries have expressed a position against bullfighting, Spanish anti-bullfighting thought is unknown because it has hardly been the subject of study. This book, which draws its conclusions from an exhaustive doctoral thesis of more than a thousand pages, aims to ensure that knowledge of anti-bullfighting thought, as a solid basis for the movement in defense of animals, is not lost. Today more than ever we need to take a step forward and, if we want a modern, civilized and progressive society, we cannot allow this important part of our history to fall into oblivion.