The arenas of Pérols will not host a bullfight next July. The decision rendered this Wednesday by the administrative court of Montpellier did not satisfy Jean-Pierre Rico the mayor of the city, who takes note “of this decision, taken Tuesday in emergency procedure. The controversial event will also be debated on June 1 before the court at the initiative of the Anti-bullfighting Alliance.
local tradition
Jean-Pierre Rico had announced in February the organization on July 15 in his arenas of a “novillada”. This was to allow a bullfight which opposes young bulls to young bullfighters, with the killing of the bulls. The mayor of the city ures again that there is indeed a ” unbroken local tradition in Pérols, in the sense that 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.
Because it is the recognition of an “uninterrupted local tradition” that can authorize the establishment of a bullfight. This has been the case in around ten departments in the South of France since 1951.
The administrative court of Montpellier had on the contrary noted Tuesday that Pérols had not organized a bullfighting show for 20 years. It was therefore not one of the localities making an exception to the prohibition on the exercise of abuse and acts of cruelty to animals, according to the court. The judge had consequently “suspended” deliberations of the municipal council paving the way for the organization of a bullfight.
The city “reserves a week of reflection to decide whether to appeal or not,” said AFP the director of cabinet of the mayor of Pérols, Malik Hamel. In any event, a decision on the merits should not be made for several months… A period deemed too long by Jean-Pierre Rico, who “deplores the material impossibility of obtaining a favorable decision on appeal” to maintain bullfighting on the city’s calendar.