The anti-bullfighting protest was holding its sixth edition at the time and was beginning to become a regular event during Zaragoza's festivities. Participants chanted slogans against bullfighting and, according to Alberto Plaza, then spokesman for Animal Amnesty, more people attended each year and the profile of participants was becoming more diverse.
The event took place without serious incidents, although it was marked by tension between the protesters and the bullfighting fans attending the bullfight. There were insults from both sides, and some objects were thrown at the protesters by those supporting bullfighting, although the situation did not escalate into more serious clashes.
The organizers specifically defended the need to avoid any violent response and even welcomed a police presence. Their aim, Plaza explained, was to show that there was an “alternative to the torture until death of an animal” and to challenge the consideration of bullfighting as a cultural expression.
The demonstration was held each year in Plaza del Portillo, a location the organizers said they had chosen to “be seen” and not as a challenge. Bullfighting fans, for their part, believed that the gathering was intended to provoke them.
More than 1,000 people, anti-bullfighting slogans and a tense atmosphere outside the bullring marked that day of the Pilar Festival. This is how we reported it in Aragón Digital 20 years ago, in the original story about the anti-bullfighting demonstration held in Zaragoza.
