A troupe of Spanish dwarf bullfighters have been forced to move to France after politicians used an EU directive on discrimination against disabled people to stop them performing in their home country.
Last Thursday, the “Bullfighting Fun” (Diversiones en el Ruedo) troupe sold out a 650-seat arena in Tethieu, a village of 850 near the Spanish border.
The performers put on a show of sketches and skits, which sometimes involved the participation of small cows.
The crowd laughed and applauded throughout, as they appeared to enjoy every minute of the show.
However, the Spanish dwarfs have found it much more difficult to please their own government, which took drastic measures to ban their show.
In April, the parliament in Madrid passed a bill outlawing their performances in Spain on the basis that dwarfs dressing up as bullfighters, or as firefighters, for the amusement of the crowd were being “used to provoke mockery, ridicule and derision”.
The politicians used a stipulation enshrined in Article 21 of the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights to justify their decision.
Article 21 stipulates amongst other things that “any discrimination based on genetic features…..shall be prohibited.”
The decision by Spain’s politicians has infuriated the dwarfs, who say they were never consulted and called the ban “unfair”.
Daniel Calderon, the leader of the 11-person troupe, said: “It’s a comical show, there’s no blood and no killing, just parody.”
He added dwarfism had been used “as a pretext by people who just don’t like bullfighting” to justify the Spanish ban.
The troupe’s French representative, Mika Romero, accused Spain’s politicians of discrimination against the dwarfs, saying they were trying to deprive the performers of their livelihood.
Not everyone was happy to welcome the dwarf bullfighters to France.
Violette Viannay, president of the “French Little People’s Association” said such shows were “counter-productive” for the integration of people with dwarfism into the rest of society.
“It’s not just a question of size,” she explained. “Dwarfism is a condition created by rare illnesses.”
Fadila Khattabi, France’s government minister in charge of disability, told AFP that it was “problematic to consider dwarfism as a source of entertainment”.
Discrimination of dwarfs was “centuries old” and had to end, she said.
“We must, together and urgently, change this kind of representation,” the minister added.
Ms Khattabi said she preferred to focus on the “superb performance” by French athletes at the World Dwarf Games in Germany.
The competition is the largest international sporting event for athletes with dwarfism and comes to an end on Saturday.
