By Euro Weekly News Media • Published: 11 Nov 2017 • 10:44
BORIS JOHNSON has left Spanish officials “fuming” after speaking in support of bullfighting at an Anglo-Saxon dinner in Bath.
The gaffe came as the UK’s Foreign Secretary told guests that attempts to ban the controversial practice are “political correctness gone mad.”
MPs at the event to honour ties between the two countries said Johnson’s “lecture,” during which he encouraged Spanish officials to support the “sport,” had sparked outrage.
A source told UK media: “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 country as bullfighting, flamenco and paella.”
One Spanish guest apparently remarked: “He’s a clown. He’s not fit to represent your country.”
The Foreign Office said in a statement: “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 in animal welfare standards.”
The ex-mayor of London’s latest slip-up comes days after Prime Minister Theresa May was urged to sack him over comments he made which could see British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s Iran jail sentence doubled.
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