The President of Committee of Representative Entities of Persons with Disabilities of CLM (CERMI CLM), Cristina Gómez, sent a letter to the government of Castilla-La Mancha in which requests the suspension of the show musical and bullfighting actor,“The bullfighter Popeye with his sea dwarves”, which will take place on September 14 at 5:00 p.m. in the Numancia de la Sagra bullring, in Toledo.
In this show, it is planned the participation of people with achondroplasia (a variety of dwarfism characterized by shortness of breath in the legs and arms), with the significant discrimination that these shows cause, in addition to being legally prohibited.
CERMI also wishes to note that These types of shows do not comply with the mandatory regulations in Spain. such as the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the thirteenth additional provision of the General Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and their Social Inclusion, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2013 of November 29, which regulates non-discrimination of persons with disabilities in public shows and recreational activities.
The CERMI CLM recalls that on several occasions it has addressed the Council of Communities to request the suspension of another show of this type in another city in our geography, receiving in this case a rapid response, instantly determining its suspension. Let us hope that on this occasion we will act quickly and that the administrative authorisation will be withdrawn. for the celebration of the show in Numancia de la Sagra.
The Franz Weber Foundation joined the CERMI complaint, which points out that this type of calls contravene Royal Legislative Decree 1/2013, of November 29, which establishes that “are prohibited shows or recreational activities in which disabled people or this circumstance is used to provoke ridicule“, mockery or ridicule of the public in a manner contrary to the respect due to human dignity.”
For this reason, they will forward their complaint to the Community Council of Castilla-La Mancha, requesting immediate suspension of the call and emphasizes that considers it “very serious” that the City Hall itself sponsors this event“contributing to perpetuating stereotypes about how people with achondroplasia are portrayed in public events,” and does not exclude taking other administrative and judicial actions to paralyze “discriminatory activity” that “attacks the rights of a vulnerable group ridiculed by these calls.”
