Time for Pacma
Anti-bullfighting party set for Spanish election breakthrough
As the right enlists bullfighters as candidates, animal welfare champions are polling well
If the polls and pundits are correct, Spain’s Vox party will achieve its much-prophesied breakthrough in Sunday’s general election, becoming the first far-right grouping to win more than a single seat in parliament since the country embarked on its post-Franco return to democracy.Although Vox’s chances of attracting about 11% of the vote have hogged the headlines, another small party – and one with a markedly different worldview – is also gearing up for a historic day at the ballot box.
The animal rights party Pacma, founded 16 years ago to put an end to bullfighting, could win two seats in the congress of deputies, according to the most recent poll by the country’s Centre for Sociological Studies (CIS).
Like Vox’s looming breakthrough, Pacma’s arrival in the arena of national politics would have been extraordinarily unlikely even a few years ago. The Spanish environmental party Equo managed to win three seats in parliament in the 2015 general election, but only after joining the coalition led by the anti-austerity Podemos party.
Pacma’s leader, Silvia Barquero, attributes the party’s sudden momentum to years of hard work, demographic changes and a growing awareness of animal rights and environmentalism in Spain.
“More and more people are putting their trust in us as a political group,” she said. “If we manage to win two seats, we’d be making history in the country where bullfighting happens and where they still abandon and hang greyhounds. It’s such a damaging image for the country to have.”
Pacma, which opposes hunting and fishing for sport, also wants to see an end to circuses, aquatic shows and “the use of animals, whether alive or dead, in any kind of show, tradition or festival”.
Vox and the conservative People’s party (PP) have taken the opposite tack, signing up bullfighters and the widow of a torero killed in the ring three years ago as candidates, and seeking to portray themselves as the guardians of Spain’s rural traditions.
But Barquero believes more and more Spaniards are coming to reject bullfighting and “don’t feel able to identify with a country which sees it as a national celebration”.
She added: “There’s a new generation of people who are worried about animals and the environment and who have an understanding of social justice that goes far beyond what you see in Spanish politics at the moment.”
The party, which is also expected to win its first seats in the European parliament in next month’s elections, has increased its vote from 44,795 in 2004 to 286,702 in the 2016 general election. This time it is hoping to secure about half a million votes.
Barquero says Pacma’s second priority after animal welfare is protecting the environment and introducing “drastic and immediate measures” to tackle climate change.
She says there has never been a strong tradition of environmental parties in Spain, and argues that the Equo party was “totally neutralised” after joining forces with Podemos.
But she insists that environmental issues are too pressing to be ignored or approached with quick-fix political solutions.
“We need global measures that go well beyond the ridiculous local ones that political parties talk about during election campaigns,” she said.
“They’re only thinking about the next election – not about the consequences of their political decisions for the generations that will follow.”
For too long, she said, Spanish political parties had been seeking to make political capital out of the Catalan independence crisis and playing on “tensions and talk of borders and flags”.
“People are sick and tired of the political situation in Spain, which is going nowhere, and of the lack of authenticity from its politicians,” said Barquero.
“We’re sadly used to the idea that a politician says one thing and then does the opposite here. [But] there’s a new generation that’s completely in step with Pacma’s values. It’s young people between 18 and 35. Most of our voters are women in that age group.”
She said Pacma’s commitment to animal welfare and the environment was evident in the fact that its leaders and spokespeople were all vegans.
“We believe that meat production is one of the main threats to the planet when it comes to climate change – and we’re personally committed to doing something about it,” she said.
“That’s the best way to show we’re on the side of the environment and of people.”
Barquero says Pacma’s entire philosophy is based on empathy and minimising suffering and inequality.
The party is engaged in an internal debate about abortion and the point at which foetuses begin to feel pain.
“There’s no ethical debate about suffering when someone is just two cells, but there is when the foetus has the nerve stimuli to be able to feel and suffer,” she said.
“We’re very interested in knowing, scientifically, at what exact point that happens. For us, that’s where the limit should be and after which abortion should not be permitted. It’s ethically unacceptable.”
Barquero describes Pacma and Vox as complete opposites – “we’re as different as night and day” – but recognises that their existence will help voters make a clear choice on Sunday.
“More and more people don’t want to be associated with bullfighting and hunting, which, like the rest of what Vox is proposing, are part of our past. Vox has seen that we’re a threat and come along saying the exact opposite of what we’ve been saying: ‘We’ll defend hunting! We’ll defend bullfighting!’”
Polls suggest the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) will win the most votes – 29.2% – but fall well short of a majority. The PP is forecast to take 20.1%, the centre-right Citizens 15.5%, Podemos 13.6%, and Vox 10.7%.
Barquero said her party would support “a progressive government” led by the PSOE, but that its backing would depend on the socialists considering Pacma’s proposals for ending the mistreatment of animals in Spain.
“I feel ashamed that people in other countries see Spain as the country of bullfighting – that needs to be wiped from the collective imagination as it’s doing us a lot of damage,” she said.
Comments
This article is a surprise for me because is from the Guardian and they don´t call us cannibals, as it was usual.
I can see that Pacma party has got 326.045 votes, around 1,25 per cent. These figures suppose that Pacma increases his number of voters. I congratulate it but, in my opinion, this party makes several mistakes because it believes that they are good and other parties are bad, they think that they only love animals and the rest hates animals and they think that who votes right parties doesn´t love animals and who votes left parties whether loves the animals. Podemos party is good and Vox and the conservative People´s party are bad.
I agree with what Silvia Barquero says in this article, generally speaking, but I don´t agree in some ideas. For instance, she said that “there a new generation of people who are worried about animal and the environment..” and if you are walking through streets in Madrid you have to jump to avoid stepping dog mess and glasses and you can see papers and things. Before, when I was young, people didn´t break bottles as now in the street and streets were cleaner. If you go through the country side is the same, the rivers are full of plastic, there is oil in the river, paths and everywhere. I remember that in my village wasn´t plastics, neither oil.
She said that a politician says one thing and then does the opposite here and everywhere, like in England, Germany, France, Italy and so on, not only here. She said that there is a new generation that´s completely in step with Pacma´s values, young people between 18 and 35 and women. Every politician says the same, because youth is the future and women are fashion now. I´m man and old, for this reason I must hate animals but it´s not true. I do love animals. Sorry Mrs. Barquero. Clichés and more clichés Mrs. Barquero.
See you.
I actually went along to Pacma's last rally before the elections. I only heard a message of hope. Hatred and division are espoused by other parties.
Alas, I do not have the right to vote in general elections here but they will certainly get my vote in the European elections this month.
I take your point about the younger generation. In some ways, they are an improvement on previous generations but in other ways, they clearly aren't.
I am not as convinced as Silvia that huge swathes of young people care about animal issues. I feel disgusted and disheartened every time I see images of torture and cruelty at so-called festivals all over Spain. So many, young and old, attend these sickening spectacles.
In my opinion, most Spaniards are indifferent to animal suffering though voices such as Pacma's are increasingly heard.
Silvia Barquero has never suggested that those who vote for VOX and PP are bad. She merely points out that the policies of these parties support the mistreatment of animals.
I find this article surprising/This article is a surprise for me because it is (this mistake yet again...) from the Guardian and they don´t call us cannibals, as they usually do.
I can see that Pacma party has got 326.045 votes, around 1,25 per cent. These figures suppose that Pacma increased its number of voters. I congratulate it but, in my opinion, this party makes several mistakes because it believes that they are good and other parties are bad, they think that only they love animals and the rest hates animals and they think that those who vote for right-wing parties don´t love animals and those who vote left-wing do love animals. Podemos is good and Vox and the conservative People´s party are bad. (Actually, Pacma often reminds people that a vote for Podemos is not a vote for animal rights)
I agree with what Silvia Barquero says in this article, generally speaking, but I don´t agree with some of her ideas. For instance, she said that there was a new generation of people who were worried about animals and the environment.
However, if you are walking through streets in Madrid, you have to jump to avoid stepping on dog mess and broken glass and you can see lots of litter. Before, when I was young, people didn´t break bottles in the street like they do now and streets were cleaner. It is the same if you go to the countryside, the rivers are full of plastic, there is oil in the river, paths and everywhere. I remember that in my village there never used to be plastics or oil. (Oil?)
She said that a politician says one thing and then does the opposite; here and everywhere, like in England, Germany, France, Italy and so on, not only here. She said that there is a new generation that´s completely in step with Pacma´s values, young people between 18 and 35 and women. Every politician says the same, because youth is the future and women are in fashion now. I´m a man and old, for this reason I must hate animals but it´s not true. I do love animals. Sorry Mrs. Barquero. Clichés and more clichés Mrs. Barquero.