Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - 10:00
AFP News Briefs ListSpanish pop star poses nude to protest bullfighting
One of Spain's top recording artists, Alaska, launched a campaign against bullfighting by presenting a poster of herself posing nude with three swords stuck in her back.
"We need to stick some little banderillas (swords used in bullfighting) in the backs of those who think that the bull does not suffer," she said in presenting her campaign "The Naked Truth: Bullfighting is Cruel."
The campaign is the idea of Spain's animal rights association AnimaNaturalis and Britain's People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which has organised numerous protests against bullfighting.
Along with filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, Alaska is one of the leading figures of the "Movida", a socio-cultural movement that emerged in Spain after the repressive 1939-75 dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
For their part, Spain's bullfighters are planning an exhibition at the European Parliament in Brussels on June 4-5 in an effort to persuade lawmakers that the activity is valid.
Polls show a rising disinterest in bullfighting in Spain, especially among the younger generation, although arenas are regularly filled to capacity for the spectacle, which ends with the death of the bull from a well-placed sword.
