“Cowardice”, “invective”, “leakage”… Barely started, the fiery debate on the proposal to ban bullfighting came to a halt in the National Assembly, where LFI deputy Aymeric Caron withdrew his proposal to law. “It saddens me”, launched the deputy of Paris. “Applaud, be proud of yourselves,” he quipped, addressing elected officials in favor of bullfighting, a subject that divides most political groups. With hundreds of “obstruction” amendments, it is “impossible” to reach “a final vote within the time limit, that is to say midnight”, agreed Aymeric Caron, during this day dedicated to texts of the LFI group.
The withdrawal of his text, already rejected for the first time in committee on November 16, sparked a shower of annoyed reactions and points of order in the hemicycle. “You are fleeing the debate” for fear of the rejection of the text, accused in particular the LR Anne-Laure Blin, pro-corrida.
Government opposed to ban
Missioned to demine this delicate subject, the Secretary of State in charge of rurality, Dominique Faure, recognized that this “subject crosses all of society”. But the government opposes the ban on bullfighting, an “ancestral tradition which contributes to the identity of certain territories”, she underlined. Emmanuel Macron advocated “conciliation” between “local customs” and “sensitivity” to the animal condition, rather than “invective”, during a visit to the salon of the association of mayors of France (AMF) , Wednesday.
The National Observatory of Bullfighting Cultures was delighted that “bullfighting wins by abandonment”. The Brigitte Bardot Foundation for its part condemned the “obstruction” of pro-bullfighting, a “deep shame for our elected officials”.
Sometimes turbulent, the debate between defenders of this “regional cultural tradition” and animal rights activists has gone far beyond the walls of the National Assembly, with pro and anti-bullfighting demonstrations last weekend in bullfighting towns and in Paris. Aymeric Caron has promised in the future a new “transpartisan bill” to “abolish bullfighting”.