July 15: People before bullfighters

Vicenç Villatoro
1 min
La mort d’un torero en directe reobre el debat de l’horari infantil

In general, I find it repugnant to rejoice in someone's death. Perhaps there are exceptions, but they are very rare: people who act against others, and their death means life or freedom for many.

As such, I deeply disliked the derisive tweets sent after the death of a matador in the ring the other day. Not because he was a bullfighter, but because he was a person. And this is independent of the opinion I might hold on bullfighting and the realization that there are professions where risk-taking is part and parcel of one’s career choice.

One can be silent, but not celebrate. But it seems to me that, in response to these deplorable tweets, there are those who want to preserve the sadness of death and are indignant over the derisive comments precisely because the victim was a matador. And if we were not talking about a bullfighter, the sadness and the outrage would be absent.

After the crash of the Germanwings flight that took off from Barcelona, there were also derisive tweets: "let's not get carried away —after all, those on the plane were Catalans, not people". I hope that those who are so indignant now were equally indignant back then. And vice-versa. Because, in contrast to what those who sent that idiotic tweet claimed, what matters is that they are people. Before being Catalans. And before being bullfighters.

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