A Camargue race (illustration) - Rozenn Leboucher / Rex / REX / SIPA

  • The main insurer of the manadiers, Groupama Méditerranée, multiplied by five on January 1st the amounts of the contributions of civil responsibility concerning the bullfighting games. The cause: accidents, more and more frequent, and sometimes serious.
  • For the most modest bull breeders, this is a serious blow.
  • Several deputies have taken up the matter to try to change the law.

Ferrades, abrivados, bandidos, encierros, Camargue races and other "toro pools": in the south-east of France, these bullfighting games (without killing the animal, unlike bullfighting) attract crowds. From the east of Hérault to Bouches-du-Rhône, no less than 200 herds, which breed bulls, allow these activities to exist.

But since January 1, these traditions have been threatened by an explosion in insurance amounts: the manades' civil liability contributions have been multiplied by five by the main company which insures them, Groupama Méditerranée.

"If the manadiers can no longer insure themselves, there will be no more bullfighting activities"

For some structures, the price would have climbed to 7,000 euros per year, against 1,000 to 1,500 euros previously. "A large manade will take the blow, but a medium-sized manade is not able to support such a load," says Bérenger Aubanel, vice-president of the Federation of manadiers, and manager of Aubanel manades, in the Gard and the Bouches-du-Rhône. If the manadiers can no longer insure themselves for bullfighting games, there will no longer be bullfighting activities in the villages. "

If the main insurer of the handlers has exploded the amounts of their contributions, it is because of bodily accidents, sometimes serious, which multiply during bullfighting games. "In recent years, claims on manadiers' civil liability contracts have deteriorated sharply," said Groupama Méditerranée's services at 20 Minutes. Since 2013, more than six million euros in claims have been covered by Groupama, six times more than the amount of contributions collected. "

Managers want law to be changed

The insurance company specifies however that only the contribution related to bullfighting games has been multiplied by five. Groupama Méditerranée, on the other hand, has removed the civil liability linked to the bullfighting games at the "most heavily and frequently disaster-affected" rams. Guarantees on buildings or livestock are kept. "With this decision, Groupama demonstrates its desire to preserve the activity of farmers who participate in regional events and traditions, without however placing the burden of this high risk on all its members", indicates the insurer, who specifies that it is still being discussed with the Fédération des manadiers.

Bull breeders want the law, which states that any animal owner is responsible in the event of an accident (and not the event organizer), to be changed. "The law is clearly not adapted," says the manadier Bérenger Aubanel. All the insurance policies turn against the owner of the animal each time. "

#Camargue: #insurers pose a heavy threat to #manades. I questioned @Economie_Gouv @justice_gouv and @FFA_assurance on the worrying disengagement of insurance companies - https://t.co/NxyPkacunX via @Midilibre

- Olivier Gaillard (@ OliveGaillard30) January 6, 2020

Several MPs have taken up this file. This is the case of Olivier Gaillard (LREM), member of the Gard. "Insurers pose a heavy threat to the manades," wrote the parliamentarian on Twitter. I called on the Ministry of Economy and Justice, and the French Insurance Federation on the worrying disengagement of insurance companies. "On December 19, the Occitanie regional council voted, for its part, a vow of support for the handlers," faced with the increase in insurance premiums. "

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  • Languedoc-Roussillon
  • Tradition
  • Montpellier