The father of an eight-year-old boy who is has cancer is threatening legal action against social media users who have aimed abusive comments at the child because he wants to be a bullfighter.
Adrián Hinojosa, who has Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare bone illness, attended a charity bullfight in Valencia on Saturday, which raised funds for children with cancer. After he was carried out of the bullring on the shoulders of one of the matadors – a traditional tribute for celebrated bullfighters – a campaign began on social media under the hashtag #AdrianTeVasACurar (or “Adrián you’re going to get better”).
Pictures of the boy wearing a bullfighter’s cap, reflecting his dream of one day becoming a matador, went viral.
But some opponents of bullfighting took a different view. One Twitter user, under the name Aizpea Etxezarraga, posted: "May he die, may he die now. A sick kid who wants to get better so he can kill innocent healthy herbivores that want to live. Oh Adrián, you're going to die."
Another Twitter user, using the name Maverick, complained that “this person is probably being treated by the public healthcare system, with my money”.
Adrián’s father, Eduardo, is planning legal action against those who have posted such comments, with the help of the national Bullfighting Foundation. “I don’t understand that in this country these kind of people, if you can call them that, exist,” Mr Hinojosa said.
The furore has been extensively covered by the conservative media, which mostly supports bullfighting. Although a small number of tweets are at the centre of the storm, many bullfighting advocates have seized on them as proof that their opponents are heartless radicals.
“Animal rights campaigners, your stupidity is frightening,” noted bullfighting journalist Rosario Pérez in the right-wing ABC newspaper.
Polarised country
Several animal rights campaigners and organisations have joined bullfighters and their fans in condemning the controversial tweets. But this is the second incident of its kind in recent months, highlighting how polarised the country’s debate over animal rights, and bullfighting in particular, has become.
In July, the bullfighter Víctor Barrio was killed after being gored in Teruel, making him the first such casualty in Spain for many years. Condolences and tributes poured in from colleagues, fans and prime minister Mariano Rajoy. However, a number of bullfighting opponents took to social media to celebrate, including one who said he would "dance on the grave" of Mr Barrio.
The trial against one of those alleged to have insulted the late matador is due to begin on October 21st.
Bullfighting has been under increasing pressure in recent years, with fewer than 1,900 bullfights held in 2014, compared to 3,650 in 2007, according to Spanish government figures, as the industry struggles with dropping demand. Also, a generation of new, leftist town mayors have withdrawn subsidies for bullfighting.
Social media also seems to have played a part in turning many people against town festivals involving animals. Footage of a calf being taunted to death by locals in the town of Valmojado last summer went viral, shocking many Spaniards.
