Olé!

Spring is different things to different people. For e. e. cummings, it was a time when "the world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful." It's when, according to Tennyson that "a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love." For many of Spain's bulls, it is a time to die in very unpleasant circumstances.

Bullfighting Bull-killing season is in full bloom. Posters for upcoming corridas are everywhere: shellacked to buildings, taped in store windows, stapled to notice boards. They are pasted onto placards which are dug deeply into the ground, and sprout from the ground like noxious weeds around traffic circles and near highway exit ramps.

The matadors bull-killers are here.

But on Saturday, there was an unwelcomed addition to the bullfighting bull-killing team at Madrid's Las Ventas bullring: animal rights protesters.

Olé!

Six most brave banner-waving anti-bullfighting bull-killing protestors leapt into the ring protesting the ritualised torture and execution of Spain's bulls and then staged a brief sit-in in the centre of the killing field. By infiltrating the inner sanctum of the arena, animal activists have succeeded in upping the ante. Until last Saturday, protests have been confined to outside the rings. No more!

Olé!

Unfortunately that particular corrida's matador bull-killer could not be swayed by the tremendously persuasive arguments of those most brave of protesters, and gave voice to his position by grabbing the placards from their hands and ripping them up. Men in pink hose certainly can be intimidating. Naturally, they were booed by the crowd and then gently escorted out of the arena by security.

Those most brave of protesters, the men in tights and the gentle security guards can be viewed here.

Olé!

Presumably those most brave of protesters had no serious expectation of turning the tide of Spanish opinion vis-à-vis bullfighting bull-killing in one fell swoop. And by writing this post, neither do I. I would, however, add that bullfighting bull-killing officials have been known to not only stop the ears of the horses with cotton wool so they can't hear the shrieks of a bull in pain but also cut their vocal cords to prevent them from screaming with fear. That might upset the crowd who are there, after all, to see the courage of the matador tested.