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Bullfighting Dustup Has France on Guard

Government bans violent protest ad but lets festivals continue

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 18, 2007 3:16 PM CDT

(Newser) – Animal activists and bullfighting fans in France are butting heads over an anti-bullfighting ad that shows bulls being speared and slaughtered. The French government banned the ad as too violent, prompting cries of hypocrisy from a well organized group of celebrities and dignitaries who have been protesting the gruesome "corrida" Spanish style of fighting.

But the Independent reports that the activists may have already won simply by embroiling the entire nation in a once-marginal debate over the sport. “La corrida” is technically banned in France but is allowed in areas that can prove an unbroken “tradition” of it—though it's been bleeding out into the entirety of the South.

[Images (5)]

[Videos (2)]

France. Family holiday in the south of France. 2002.Camargue style bull fights in which the bull is not killed. Roman Arennes in Arles. (LON37691) (Magnum Photos)

France. Family holiday in the south of France. 2002.Camargue style bull fighting in which the bulls are not killed. Roman Arenes in Arles. (LON37814) (Magnum Photos)

Languedoc-Roussillon. Gard. Ns. Bull-fight. Antonio Ordonez, torero. (PAR158486) (Magnum Photos)

Languedoc-Roussillon region. Hult department. Town of Bers. August 15th, 2002. Annual Fa. (PAR237384) (Magnum Photos)

Spanish matador Jose Tomas is seen fighting a bull in this Nov. 30, 2001 file photo taken in Quito, Ecuador. The Spanish bullfighter who mesmerized aficionados with an icy, death-defying style, only to... (Associated Press)

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Bullfighting Dustup Has France on Guard