Laurence Dollimore
SPANIARDS have reportedly been left fuming after Boris Johnson defended bullfighting during an Anglo-Spanish dinner.
The UK’s foreign secretary told the dinner – designed to celebrate ties between Great Britain and Spain – that trying to ban bullfighting was ‘political correctness gone mad.’
MPs said some Spaniards were left furious by the remarks made at the event in Bath on Saturday.
One of the guests said Johnson kept ‘lecturing’ the Spanish and told them to keep ‘supporting the sport’, while another said he was a ‘clown’.
A source told UK press: “He antagonised every Spaniard there. They fumed for the rest of the dinner.
“Bullfighting is the subject of lively debate. Some parts of Spain have banned it.
“The Spanish don’t like people painting a caricature of their county as bullfighting, flamenco and paella.”
The UK’s Foreign Office said: “The Foreign Secretary was expressing a personal view that he respects this Spanish tradition.
“However, he does not personally support bullfighting and he is proud the UK upholds the highest animal welfare standards, including the ban on bullfighting in the UK.”
