Pero Palo 2010 ... in Record Time

Posted on Apr 7th 2010 at 20:47 by Elvino Gasparotti

Also this year we have organized a strong international protest accompanied by a petition (currently there are 7634 signatures), promoted by the Spanish friends of El Refugio del Burrito and with our collaboration, which asks to new President of Extremadura, to enact a law to prohibit the use of the donkey.

Special thanks to our Mauro Bertini, who probed the net to find dozens of email addresses of animal welfare groups across all Europe.

The hopes for success were based on the fact that the new government had shown significant sensibility for animal welfare issues, especially regarding to the welfare of donkeys, in fact, until the very day before the fiesta, no one knew whether or not the region would authorize the use of "burrito". (donkey)

The climate was very hot since the City Council of Villanueva de la Vera, had shown a clear willingness to disobey (especially having the comfort of almost all of the local citizens) in the event that the capital (Caceres), was about to ban.

But what were the consequences of disobedience? Definitely a huge difficulty in managing this issue and therefore, perhaps even to create some suspense, the fiesta of Pero Palo could suffer the cutting of the “Corrida de Elecciones”, which for the inhabitants is probably also a reason for struggle and conflict with the Regional Council.

Not by chance, when this "corrida" had been over, many people around the donkey were screaming "Villanueva Villanueva Villanueva" it seemed as if they wanted to send a clear message: "The donkey, or rather the burrito, is not to be touched". But meanwhile the pressure on the organizers became stronger. (read the report 2010)

16 February 2010 - for the donkey still terror

Posted on Jan 24th 2010 at 20:47 by Elvino Gasparotti

"The party will be finished when the donkey will be finished"...

for many years this slogan, that represented very well what happened at Villanueva, is not true anymore, thanks to the protests and the international presence of the animalists.

The Spanish animalists have gotten a law in 2002 that,  at least in theory, avoid the torment of the donkey. But an international mobilization is always necessary, because the local authorities, as we have ascertained, are not worried about to enforce it, to use an euphemism.

In 2009, thanks of your great contribution by sending the letter of protest and the signature of the petition, noise has been big.

We have denounced to the Guardia Civil (Police), the dependent (Jacinto) of the Commune of Villanueva de la Vera for the transport of the donkey on a vehicle not conform to the European normative and to the Spanish law. You can read the detailed report and view the video where the opinion of the local press is proved to be wrong.

Also in 2010 we will be present at Villanueva de la Vera to check what happens and to sustain the Spanish association.

But also this year we need your help. It is very important that you sign the new petition, promoted by the colleagues of the Spanish association "El Refugio del Burrito", that for years together with us, follows the local Fiesta, and that you send the letter that you will find on the right of this page ("Helped us to help the little donkey" and "Petition on line").

Thanks a lot.

Elvino Gasparotti

CEDA onlus - Comitato Europeo Difesa Animali - European Committee Defence Animals

Pero Palo - Symbol of the maltreatments

Posted on Feb 11th 2009 at 20:47 by Elvino Gasparotti

Villanueva de la Vera is a small village of not much more than 2000 inhabitants in Extremadura; it is theatre every year of the fiesta of the so-called "Pero Palo".

The presence of the Italian animalists has been possible thanks to the obstinacy and the determination of Clara Genero, foundress of the Lida Committee against the Corrida.

In the year of her disappearance, 2000, those who knew the spirit of sacrifice (she renounced the medicines just to finance these initiatives, with notable damage for her health) wanted to continue this her initiative, which was very important for her. In fact, this feast was a symbol of the ferocious maltreatments against animals: practically, the feast finished when the donkey finished.

After the year 2003, together with the section LAV and LIVDA of Bassano del Grappa, has been organized the presence of two Italian observatories, Gabriella Scaperrotta and Michele Mastini, who - in comparison to the years before - had registered an "improvement," for the coming into force of the law on the maltreatments of animals (read the REPORT 2003) in the year 2004, 2005 and 2006 Italian animalists have not been present; we have returned to Villanueva with Elvino Gasparotti e Irmgard Haub of the delegation Tuscany of "European Committee Defence Animals NPO", that will be witness in the next edition (2009) as well. Unfortunately, in consequence to the dismissal of exposé presented by animalists, we record an shameful return to the past.

Info about the "Fiesta"

Posted on Feb 11th 2009 at 16:12 by Elvino Gasparotti

In the rest of the province there are still lots of manifestations of cruelty against animals; we have translated what appeared in the local newspaper EL PERIODICO DE EXTREMADURA, which has published a large article on the theme.

From the letter, written by Cristina Leòn in the 1988

I answer to your question, also in so far as you tell me, that there are still people who deny the martyrdom of the donkey of Villanueva de la Vera (Caceres) condemned to suffer year after year, just to hold on the barbaric tradition. I confirm that 1986 I had been witness of the lynching of the animal. The inhabitants had bought it to celebrate, as they do every year, the rite, inspired by the death of a condemned Hebrew, in that place, to be tortured and burnt on the pyre, at the time of the inquisition.

A fat man, after an abundant meal mounts on the donkey and rides around the village. He has to represent the „town crier” who announced the execution, that everybody could be present. As the years went by the donkey became the symbol of the convict; an that's why it becomes struck to death, especially by drunk people.

When we had met in 1987, I'm sure you remember two elderly women who had become infuriated against the „foreigners”, who had deprived them of the entertainment on which they had been used to, while Vicki Moore and the journalists of papers and television had been investigating, for the very first time, on this case.

I witness, that the photo that I had lent to your friend to be sent to the British press as a prove of this crime, I had shot myself in 1986. I had been pushed away (together with some friends that had invited me to assist at this kind of so-called parties of carnival) right because I tried to take a near photo of the animal, though nauseated of this exhibition of cruelty and the inhabitants of the village had understood that I was a curious an hostile visitor. I had been terribly shaken by the scene: this had been noted and just for this reason the poor animal had been beaten to death even more pitiless. In this photo, you can see well, on the ground, one of the limbs of the animal sticks out of the spaces between the human legs. In fact the animal had already fallen down and had been covered by the people who squeezed it . Two minutes before I had been pushed away I saw blood well in out of the anterior legs which had been just been broken at this moment. A photo of this lynching appeares in the magazine „Lookout” in the number of January, which is published at the Costa del Sol, as a partial but exact demonstration of the monstrous cruelty of the so-called popular Spanish Fiestas. In this particular document you see the head taught back brutally by some hooligans while others strike him with sticks. I'm sure, that also you have the letter which the mayor of the village had sent as answer at the president of one of the Spanish associations of protection of animals who, in these days, had published a protest against these facts. This mayor had affirmed to have ordered at the population to behave in a civilized mode. He regrets those events which represent the degeneration of this kind of feasts and he complains the absence of repressive forces in the small town-areas. Regarding this I want to note, that Madrid is not to considerate a small community of Spain and, nevertheless, nearby – precisely at Fuenlabrada – in the streets happened the public lynching of bulls, in presence of the town guards which helped to lift (and depose) the bloody massacred bodies on a van. This had been considered to be a scandal, even to the Spanish ”meter”, so , for the very first time, the press of Madrid denounced the facts instead of just giving a report, and the mayor of Fuenlabrada and the „Governador civil” of Madrid accused themselves reciprocally to be responsible of what has turned to be a real orgy.

This constitutes today the shame of Spain. I hope, that this kind of behaviour won't become the shame of Europe, a crime, of which every human being that doesn't intervene, has to consider himself guilty

History of a "Fiesta"

Posted on Feb 11th 2009 at 20:47 by Elvino Gasparotti

Had a particular relief, in Spain, an article of the philosopher Jesus Mosterin, published in the newspaper EL PAIS the 8th of November 1985 , entitled „Philosophy and Tauromacy”.

There was written, between other: to accept blindly all the components of the tradition means to deny the possibility of the progress of culture. That of the cultural tradition is exactly the argument used of those who defend the „Corrida”. In a brochure, entitled „The Shame of Spain”, by the Spanish movement against cruel spectacles, there was written: The tauromacy is only a business of money, masked as cultural tradition.

The excuse of cultural tradition is also used to justify the other sadistic celebrations, though some of them had been invented only few years ago. Those celebrations and so-called „patron saint's days” and „folk festivals” which had been abolished in 1963; but they had been legalized again in 1982.

 

The „fiesta” of Villanueva de la Vera is the commemoration of the torture (by a pyre or lynching) which had suffered a heretic or Hebrew in the period of the inquisition, represented by a puppet of cloth which is beaten to pieces by the population. Only the wooden head is becomes conserved scrupulously to be reused every year.

 

The day of carnival sees a donkey as protagonist : for several hours it has to carry the heaviest man of the village on his back, between maltreatments of each sort.

English protectionists, which had been invited by their colleagues of Madrid, had proposed the substitution with a donkey of carton at the inhabitants of the village, offering one as example, but the population reacted with indignation shouting in chorus:

„Noqueremos burro de cartòn, los ingleses al pilòn” (we don't want a donkey of carton, the English into the fountain) and after the words they let follow deeds.

As at other celebrations of the district many of actives are the young men who have been called to the military lever, the so-called „Quintos”.

While the „quintos” get drunk in the town hall, others provide to soak a long big rope, in which they had made some knots to be able to pull better. This was to be put around the neck of the animal which, gotten drunk and maltreated will fall almost immediately and will be dragged violently by the young men. At each fall the crowd will throw itself on it (the animal) crushing it and jumping on the legs to break them.

 

Until 1986 the donkey became stabbed; they gouged out the eyes an broke the bones

Emblematic the phrase with which the inspector, sent by the Spanish protectionist association ADDA, ended his report: The party will go on as long as the donkey goes on.

On carnival 1987, thanks to the intervention of Spanish protectionists, accompanied by their English colleagues, the donkey on duty had been saved, bought and brought to England. This time it was probably the effect of the surprise. A Spanish journalist wrote: it was the first animal saved in a Spanish celebration and it will also be the last one. And in fact, in the following years the donkeys had been treated very cruel. They did not die during the celebration but nobody got to know exactly what finally happened to them. Since the celebration has been disburdened of the blame, the inhabitants of the village continue to repeat that at the donkey „non le pasa nada” (nothing will happen).

Those who had been present, gave the lie to them who continued to rebut that things had become wicked, due to the English who continued to put their nose into „foreign matters”. On carnival 1991 nobody from England arrived at the celebration; nevertheless the animal had been treated even worse than the year before.