Thousands of people demonstrated this Saturday in Montpellier to defend the bullfighting traditions of southern France in a playful atmosphere, called by political leaders from the region of different political color, in response to criticism from environmental and animal rights movements.
More than 300 Camargue horses, such as those used to direct the herds of bulls in that territory at the mouth of the Rhône River, gave great color to the march down Avenue Charles de Gaulle, through which, according to the organizers, 15,000 paraded. people.
In the march there were parliamentarians and local officials from different political parties, from communists to the extreme right, such as the mayors of Perpignan, Louis Alliot, or that of Béziers, Robert Ménard, as well as members of the formation of the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
Speaking to the Midi Libre newspaper, Ménard said the march was justified to defend "something essential: who we are."
"Not against the others," Ménard assured. I don't force anyone to like what I like, but I am against prohibiting me from doing anything."
In courtship, not only bullfighting traditions were valued, but more generally other practices of the rural world, and hunting in particular.
The president of the Federation of Hunters of the Hérault department, stressed that "bullfighting traditions are part of our southern culture."
The mobilization was called in response to a petition launched in the press in January by fifty personalities, including representatives of the Animalist Party and various environmental officials from the Montpellier City Council and the metropolitan entity, to prevent some practices with bulls.
