THE BULL OF ST. JOHN

CORIA
CÁCERES - EXTREMADURA - SPAIN
JUNE

In June 23rd to 29th, Coria (Cáceres, Extremadura) holds the patron saint's week, Saint John. As in many other Spanish cities, the main attraction is to batter and kill one or several animals. In Coria we speak also about bulls. Although there is no "corrida", there are three runnings every day: dawn, morning and afternoon. A few days before 2006 celebrations, we have contacted the Tourist Office of Coria to get some information: the busiest running is June 27th because the "27's Club" uses to buy the biggest bull to be run that day, but in 2006 the City Council has bought a "Miura" and people waits expectantly for it.

The dynamic of a running in Coria is as follows: the running bull goes out of the barnyard with a number of tame-bulls, and they all are taken to the bullring through the streets. Once there, they take this bull out to the central arena, where people drive brand-darts in. In case of a dangerous situation they turn the lights off to confuse the animal. After that, they open the bullring gate so the bull can run through the city, where it is attacked in the same way with darts for several hours, to be finally shot down.

In the website Tourism in Coria (in Spanish) you can get first-hand information on this celebration, the way they announce it, and see some pictures of the bulls killed in 2006 in "atavistic fight" by the citizens of Coria, to honour Saint John.

NATIONAL TOURIST INTEREST?

The yearly event held in Coria maybe, along with "El Toro de la Vega" in Tordesillas (Valladolid, Castilla León), one of the biggest and ashamed atrocities carried out by that traditional and cultural Spain to celebrate a festival. And that because of the hard-hearted mutilation of the bull and its hugue and groundless suffering. In both cities most people have an active role; they behave like a medieval horde. And both events are always held on with the official congratulation and sponshorship of the authorities, even the cultural ones, of course.

In Coria they enjoy this slaughtering. Children grow up into this environment, learning that things like this are good, beautiful and cultural. Making a strong effort, we can imagine how far arrives the suffering of this bull, hounded and atacked for hours in the streets, the body riddled with darts, trying to run away from humans. The final shot in the head, by the "matador" of Coria, will be surely received as a real present from heaven.

"The loosed bull runs until dawn. Walking with the highest authorities of the city, a skilful and accustomed "matador", handling a shotgun, makes is way through the crowd, and prepares to kill the animal very near, face to face, with a cracked shot to its forehead. A withering fate to end, two hours later, this atavistic bullfight".

This text, extracted from the website of the Coria Tourist Office, shows the end of the "atavistic bullfight", the previous step of which you can see in the following picture by FAACE, a picture that, of course, is not uploaded to the mentioned website -and no other similar one:

The only sight of this animal riddled with darts, got in an "atavistic bullfight" even into its eyes, snout and nasal orifices, is expressly enough to make the Spanish cultural authorities to consider again, and seriously, their requirements to qualify as "interesting" such a savagery proof.

We suppose that the "national" interest comes from a fact: it is impossible to sell this as culture futher over our bloody festive borders.

Description made by ANPBA is more realistic. We suggest you to read it:

The "bulls of Coria" (Cáceres) are also known as "pincushion bulls". This name comes from a cruel and violent tradition: human participants throw darts at the bulls with a blowpipe; sharping darts, decorated with coloured paper, that knocked in the skin.
Asyou can see in the picture, even the eyes and snout are a target for the horde. As the crowd throw hundreds of darts, at last the bulls look like a pincushion. Then, when people have enjoyed over and over the suffering of these animals, bulls are shoot to kill and their testicles cut off.