The mayor of Pérols (Hérault), Jean-Pierre Rico, deplores the decision of the administrative court of Montpellier, Tuesday, to suspend the organization in his city of a bullfight, mid-July. A controversial event, which will also be debated on June 1 before the court at the initiative of the Anti-bullfighting Alliance. The city “deplores the material impossibility of obtaining a favorable decision on appeal within the deadlines”.
In February, Jean-Pierre Rico announced the future organization, in his arenas, of a “novillada”. This type of bullfight opposes young bulls to young bullfighters, with the killing of the bulls. He again assures that there is indeed an “uninterrupted local tradition” in Pérols, a determining factor in authorizing bullfighting on French territory. According to him, the city is located in the heart of a vast area, between the Basque Country and the Camargue, where bullfighting is part of the traditions.
The court denied any uninterrupted local tradition that could justify the holding of this bullfight
The Montpellier administrative court on the contrary noted on Tuesday that Pérols had not organized a bullfighting show since 2003. He also denied the cultural influence of cities where bullfighting shows continue to attract thousands of people, such as Nîmes or Beziers. The judges attached Pérols only to the urban area of Montpellier, of which Pérols is one of the thirty-one municipalities of the metropolis. For justice, it is therefore not one of the localities, among thirteen departments of the south of France, making an exception to the prohibition on the exercise of abuse and acts of cruelty to animals.
The city “reserves a week of reflection to decide whether to appeal or not”, before the administrative court of appeal of Toulouse, specifies the director of cabinet of the mayor of Pérols, Malik Hamel. Given its urgency, the courts, seized by two anti-bullfighting associations and several individuals, ruled in the context of an interim judgment with suspension. The decision on the merits should not intervene before several months, too late for the bullfight to be held.