Carlos Alcaraz has been blasted by animal rights group PETA for turning up for a bullfighting event in Spain. Alcaraz was photographed at the Plaza de Toros de La Condomina in Murcia, Spain, to witness the sporting event on Monday. The Wimbledon 2023 champion was reportedly present at the venue along with famous Spanish bullfighter Peperin Liria and former football coach Jose Antonio Camacho. Fundacion Toro Lidia, organisers of bullfighting in Spain, shared a picture of Alcaraz at the event on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
Alcaraz received a standing ovation from the fans present at the Plaza de Toros de La Condomina. He was reportedly greeted by Alejandro Talavante, who took part in a fixture against Sebastian Castella and Jose Mari Manzanares.
Carlos Alcaraz’s appearance in the bullfighting event, however, did not go down well with PETA who claimed that the sport is a “torture” of animals. They also requested Alcaraz to stop promoting such action. “Tennis is a sport; animal abuse is not Carlos Alcaraz! Stop supporting bullfighting,” PETA wrote.
The post further went on to slam the tennis star. “Carlos Alcaraz, bullfighting is torture, not culture. There’s nothing entertaining about the stabbing & torturing of animals-& the majority of young people in Spain reject bullfighting as the blood sport it is. Please don’t support bullfighting and pledge to never attend another fight again,” read the post shared by PETA.
Carlos Alcaraz has not responded to the criticism yet. Alcaraz was expected to feature in the Davis Cup in his native Spain but the former world number one had to pull out of the competition in order to get some rest. Alcaraz was replaced by Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the Spain squad at Davis Cup.
“I was really looking forward to playing for Spain at the Davis Cup in Valencia, but I have to listen to my body after a very long tour. I need to stop and rest, physically and mentally. The schedule is very demanding; there is still a long season ahead, and now it’s time to recharge my batteries. Best of luck to the Spanish team! I will be supporting you strongly! Let’s go,” the 20-year-old wrote in a social media post.
Alcaraz’s Grand Slam calendar came to an end earlier this month after he crashed out of the US Open semi-finals. Alcaraz, last year’s US Open champion, had to face a 7-6 (3), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 defeat at the hands of Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
