Radically Anti-Bullfighting Committee

The Comité radicalement anticorrida (CRAC), known since late 2007 as CRAC Europe, is a French animal-rights association founded in 1991 on the initiative of Jacques Dary and Aimé Tardieu, under the impetus of Lilianne Sujanszky, then director of the SPA and later of the Brigitte-Bardot Foundation. Its name originally stood for "Comité réformiste anticorrida"; in the early 2000s the "R" was changed to "radicalement" to reflect the organization's adoption of a single goal: the outright abolition of bullfighting. Two further qualifiers were added later — "pour la protection de l'enfance" (for the protection of children) and "Europe" — and from the end of 2007 the body became CRAC Europe, governed by the Moselle law of 1908. The CRAC Europe is affiliated with the Fédération des luttes pour l'abolition de la corrida (FLAC), which groups the main French anti-bullfighting associations, and with the collectif Non à la honte française, which brings together more than 200 animal-cause organizations. It is based in Alès, in the Gard department, the town where the CRAC was born, and it operates across France and at European level, using legal action, public mobilization, petitions and media campaigns. Its best-known actions include the definitive removal of bullfighting from France's intangible cultural heritage in 2016 and the blocking of the return of bullfighting to Pérols in 2024 after a 20-year interruption. It has also campaigned against bullfighting involving minors, organizing direct non-violent actions in arenas at Rodilhan in 2011 and Rion-des-Landes in 2013, and it has supported parliamentary bills seeking abolition. In September 2011 it filed a request to annul the inscription of bullfighting on France's intangible heritage list, leading to a priority constitutionality question (QPC) decided by the Constitutional Council on 21 September 2012, which upheld the existing legal exception for bullfighting. The association's manifesto calling for the abolition of bullfighting had been signed by 1,649 people as of 19 August 2012, drawn from political, artistic, literary, legal, scientific, veterinary, associative, religious, sporting, media and civil-society circles. Its presidents have included Jean-Pierre Garrigues (2002–2017), Didier Bonnet (2018–2024) and Cyril Vaucelle (since 2024). In October 2017 Garrigues announced the dissolution of the CRAC, but following a decision by its board members the organization continued its activities. Today CRAC Europe remains active, publishing news, organizing events and mobilizations, and maintaining an online presence at anticorrida.com.

The Comité radicalement anticorrida (CRAC) was founded in 1991 on the initiative of Jacques Dary and Aimé Tardieu, under the impetus of Lilianne Sujanszky, who had directed the SPA throughout the 1980s and later the Brigitte-Bardot Foundation during the 1990s. The organization was born in Alès, in the Gard department of southern France, a town that would remain central to its identity and mobilizations. Initially the "R" in CRAC stood for "réformiste" (reformist). In the early 2000s, the view that the fight had to take a different form prevailed, and the "R" was changed to "radicalement" (radically) to emphasize that, in the eyes of the association's members, only one path made sense: the pure and simple abolition of bullfighting. Two further clarifications were added later. The first was the phrase "pour la protection de l'enfance" (for the protection of children); the second was the word "Europe", to situate the issue at a level transcending borders. From the end of 2007, the CRAC thus became CRAC Europe, governed by the Moselle law of 1908. The CRAC Europe is affiliated with the Fédération des luttes pour l'abolition de la corrida (FLAC), which groups the main French anti-bullfighting associations, and with the collectif Non à la honte française, which brings together more than 200 animal-cause associations. Its presidents have included Jean-Pierre Garrigues from 2002 to 2017, Didier Bonnet from 2018 to 2024, and Cyril Vaucelle from 2024 to the present. In October 2017, Jean-Pierre Garrigues announced the dissolution of the CRAC, but following a decision by the members of its board of directors, the CRAC ultimately continued its activities. Over the years the CRAC Europe has carried out several actions with significant media impact. In September 2011, together with the association Droits des animaux, it filed a request with the Paris administrative court to annul the decision to inscribe bullfighting on France's intangible cultural heritage list. Within that procedure, a priority constitutionality question (QPC) was raised, contesting the constitutionality of article 521-1 of the penal code, under which penalties for cruelty to domestic animals do not apply to bullfights "when an uninterrupted local tradition can be invoked". The argument was that this exception de facto created inequality among French citizens before the law: most of them would be convicted if they committed acts of cruelty to animals, while a minority could legally resort to it (in about a dozen departments of southern France). The Conseil d'État referred the matter to the Constitutional Council, which sat on 10 September 2012 and, on 21 September, ruled that the paragraph permitting bullfighting was in conformity with the Constitution. On 8 October 2011, the CRAC Europe, Droits des animaux (France) and Animaux en péril (Belgium) entered the arena at Rodilhan, a small village a few kilometres from Nîmes, while the Nîmes agglomeration was organizing the final of "Graines de toreros", a bullfighting show whose toreros were adolescents and whose bulls were young calves. About sixty activists chained themselves on the sand of the arena to prevent the show from taking place, in a non-violent direct action. Many spectators came down into the arena and beat them; one activist was stripped and subjected to various unwanted touching, and another received a fire-hose jet at point-blank range in the ear. The scene was filmed and picked up by most television channels and by the French and international press. Following these events, numerous complaints were filed by the assaulted activists, their attackers being identified more easily thanks to videos posted online. A few months later, in July 2012, the town hall of Rodilhan announced that it was definitively stopping the organization of such shows. A similar action, organized by the CRAC Europe, the Brigitte-Bardot Foundation and Animaux en péril, took place at Rion-des-Landes on 24 August 2013, where 126 anti-bullfighting activists invaded the ruedo of an arena while a second team filmed and photographed the event. On 11 and 12 May 2013, between 1,200 (according to police) and 5,000 anti-bullfighting sympathizers (according to organizers) took part in a demonstration in the form of three parades over two days in the streets of Alès, the town where the CRAC was born, at its initiative and with the support of the 200 associations of the collective, in particular the Brigitte-Bardot Foundation, One Voice, the SPA, Animaux en péril, PETA, CAS International, the 30 millions d'amis Foundation, L214 and Europe Écologie Les Verts. On 7 May, the town hall of Alès issued two decrees banning gatherings near the town centre and the arenas in order to prevent clashes between demonstrators and bullfighting fans, creating extreme tension. The CRAC Europe's manifesto calling for the abolition of bullfighting had been signed by 1,649 people as of 19 August 2012, from various backgrounds: political, artistic, literary, legal, scientific, veterinary, associative, religious, sporting, media and civil society. Several parliamentary bills calling for abolition have been tabled to date, in particular by parliamentarians Geneviève Gaillard, Muriel Marland-Militello and Roland Povinelli, jointly with the CRAC Europe; none has yet been placed on the agenda. In 2016, the CRAC Europe achieved the definitive removal of bullfighting from France's intangible cultural heritage, and in 2024 it secured the ban on the return of bullfighting to Pérols after a 20-year interruption. The organization remains active, publishing news and organizing events and mobilizations.

• 2024

  Ban on the return of bullfighting to Pérols after a 20-year interruption.

• 2024

  Cyril Vaucelle becomes president.

• 2018

  Didier Bonnet becomes president.

• 2017

  October: Jean-Pierre Garrigues announces the dissolution of the CRAC, but the board decides to continue activities.

• 2016

  Definitive removal of bullfighting from France's intangible cultural heritage.

• 2013

  11–12 May: Triple demonstration for the abolition of bullfighting in Alès, with between 1,200 and 5,000 participants.

• 2013

  24 August: Similar action at Rion-des-Landes with 126 activists invading the ruedo.

• 2012

  21 September: The Constitutional Council rules that the paragraph permitting bullfighting is in conformity with the Constitution.

• 2012

  July: The town hall of Rodilhan announces it is definitively stopping the organization of bullfighting shows involving minors.

• 2011

  September: CRAC Europe and Droits des animaux file a request to annul the inscription of bullfighting on France's intangible heritage list, leading to a QPC.

• 2011

  8 October: CRAC Europe, Droits des animaux and Animaux en péril enter the arena at Rodilhan to stop a bullfighting show involving minors.

• 2007

  From the end of 2007, the CRAC becomes CRAC Europe, governed by the Moselle law of 1908.

• 2002

  Jean-Pierre Garrigues becomes president.

• 1991

  CRAC founded in Alès on the initiative of Jacques Dary and Aimé Tardieu, under the impetus of Lilianne Sujanszky.

Abolitionist animal-rights advocacy organization campaigning against bullfighting in France and Europe.

1. 1CRAC Europe - Association française anticorridaanticorrida.com
2. 2Comité radicalement anticorridafr.wikipedia.org
3. 3Comité radicalement anticorridawikidata.org