'˜End this bull fight bloodbath'

Emilia Soerensen, 29, travelled more than 1,000 miles to take part in the protest last week.

Emilia, who works as a housekeeper, said: “When they poured the blood on me it went over my eyes and it made me imagine how the bull must feel in the ring with the blood running into its eyes.”

Pamplona’s annual San Fermin festival sees bulls chased through the streets by thousands of excited ‘bull runners’, many of whom have travelled from all over the world to take part. The terrified animals are then forced to fight for their lives against armed matadors in the festival’s famous bull fights.

Animal rights group PETA teamed up with Spanish activists from AnimaNaturalis to protest what they called ‘a bloodbath for bulls’.

Animal-lover Emilia, who lives on Lytham Road, said: “I have been a vegan for six years and since then I have been an animal rights activist. This is the first time I’ve protested the bull fighting.

“At the beginning I felt anxious because the people around us were the people who support the bull fighting and sell T-shirts and posters about killing the bulls.

“Luckily not many people complained. One man angrily kicked one of our fundraising buckets, but apart from that it wasn’t too bad.

“Our aim is to stop the bull fighting.

“It’s absolutely horrendous. They say it’s a tradition - but human sacrifice used to be tradition for the Aztecs.

“We kill the bulls for fun. It’s not fun - it’s murder.

“Many places in Spain have banned bull fighting because they realise that there’s no fun in mutilating and stabbing an animal to death. People understand it’s wrong.

“We’re not against people having fun and getting drunk - if they want to do that that’s their choice, but we don’t want animals to be abused and mutilated in the process.

“I think we madea difference. The mayor of Pamplona even came up to us and said he thinks it is time to talk about it.

“I’m 100 per cent proud of what I do. I even have a tattoo saying ‘animal liberation’ on my leg.”