Spanish group of dwarf bullfighters take their act to France after Spain banned their shows for encouraging ‘mockery’ of disabled people

A Spanish group of dwarf bullfighters have taken their act to France after their home country banned such shows because they incite mockery of people with disabilities.

The group’s Thursday night show, the “Diversiones en el Ruedo” (“Bull Fighting Fun”), sold out at the 650-seat arena in Tethieu, a village of 850 near the Spanish border.

Unlike regular bullfights, the performance did not result in injury or death to the participating animals.

Instead, the performers presented skits and skits in various costumes, and sometimes with small cows, leading to laughter and applause.

Spain’s parliament banned such shows from April on the grounds that dwarfs dressing up as bullfighters or as firefighters were “used to provoke ridicule, ridicule and scorn” for the amusement of the crowd.

Spain based its ruling on European Union directives on discrimination against disabled people.

But the artists themselves rejected the reasoning.

“It’s a comedy show, there’s no blood and no murder, just a parody,” said Daniel Calderon, leader of the 11-member group.

He said dwarfism had been used “as a pretext by people who just don’t like bullfighting” to justify the Spanish ban.

Another cast member known as the “comic bullfighters,” 31-year-old Paul Munoz in a sequined costume, called Spain’s position “unfair” and said the performers themselves were never consulted about the ban.

“We love what we do, it’s our job,” he said.

Mika Romero, the group’s French representative, added: “The real discrimination is to deprive them of their livelihood.”

But Violette Viannay, president of the French Little People’s Association, said such shows were “counterproductive” in the fight for better integration of people with dwarfism into the rest of society.

“It’s not just a matter of size,” she said. “Dwarfism is a condition caused by rare diseases,” she said.

France’s disability minister, Fadila Khattabi, told AFP it was “problematic to view dwarfism as a source of entertainment.”

Discrimination against dwarfs was “ages old” and had to stop, she said.

“We must together and urgently change this kind of representation,” she said.

The minister said she preferred instead to focus on what she called the “outstanding performance” by French athletes at the World Dwarf Games in Germany, the largest international sporting event for athletes with dwarfism, which ends on Saturday.