Report: cruel fiestas with young cows in Catalonia
10-07-2025CAS International and AnimaNaturalis have released a new report on the cruel traditions involving animals in Spain. This time, we documented the practices during a street festival with young cows in Sant Jaume d’Enveja (Catalonia, Spain).
Report: cruel fiestas with young cows in Catalonia | Picture: AnimaNaturalis & CAS International
On June 22, we traveled to Sant Jaume d’Enveja (Tarragona), a municipality notorious for its large number of local festivals involving bulls and cows. Each year, nearly 20,000 cruel festivals take place in Spain where cattle are used. These events occur in only 22 percent of Spanish municipalities—mostly in small villages with an average population of just 1,000 residents. These locations are often less visible to the general public, which allows the animal suffering to largely remain under the radar. That’s why we chose to film here.
Watch our report here:
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Young cows forced to run into fences
In Sant Jaume d’Enveja, we captured footage of young cows—vaquillas—being chased, provoked, and repeatedly subjected to physical and mental stress. The animals are forced to run into metal fences or climb over obstacles. Their bodies are not made for this, which can lead to serious injuries. They also suffer from extreme heat and dehydration, which worsens their distress.
Cow trapped in a pen intended for a fire bull| Picture: CAS International/AnimaNaturalis
Cows are social and sensitive animals that find safety within their herd. For these local festivals, they are taken away from their herd and released into a noisy arena, surrounded by people who harass them. The animals respond with panic, fear, disorientation, and stress.
Aggression during filming
Our activists who were filming in Sant Jaume d’Enveja encountered aggression. When a cow got stuck in a pen meant for a fire bull, bystanders beat her with sticks. They also administered electric shocks to force her out. Meanwhile, others tried to block the abuse from being filmed using flags, chairs, tables, and capes.
Our activists on the ground were insulted, pelted with stones and bottles, and had to leave under police protection while death threats were being shouted. The situation escalated so severely that members of the festival committee had to intervene to prevent further violence. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Nonetheless, our activists managed to film the event.
Nonetheless, our activists managed to film the event | Picture: CAS International/AnimaNaturalis
Despite these events, we will continue our work and keep documenting these cruel bull and cow festivals.
Campaign: Blood Fiestas
For years, CAS and AnimaNaturalis have been working to end the use of bulls and cows in Spanish festivals. We document these events and file complaints when we witness abuse. We also conduct research. For example, we discovered that in 2019 alone, more than 42 million euros of public funds were spent on 17,708 of these bull festivals. What many people don’t realize is that these festivals are largely funded with public money. We will continue to raise awareness of the animal suffering caused by these cruel events. Sign our petition!
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