In Spain, they love bulls so much they torture them publicly, kill them slowly and cheer loudest when their ears are cut from their still-warm bodies.
Indeed, an evening at the corrida de toros makes for a fascinating spectacle.
Catalonia banned bullfighting earlier this year, but it remains a majortourism drawcard across Spain, and a staple feature of local culture.
Catalonia's ban could be as much an expression of regional identity as a defence of animal rights. Bullfighting is a key element in the imagery of Spanish nationalism and some in Catalonia felt that - like much that is popular in Madrid - it diluted Catalan identity.
Bullfighting remains most popular in Andalucia and the capital, Madrid. The 20,000-seater Las Ventas in Madrid, at Plaza de Toros, is the best place to see corrida. They're in business every Sunday from May until October.
During the three-week Festival de San Isidro starting in late May, there are bullfights every day, and this is when the superstar bullfighters will be in action.
It's a gruesome show. The animal rarely dies cleanly. The crowd applauds a bullfighter who "dances" closest to danger and ultimately makes the cleanest kill.
If the fight is felt to be a particularly good one, the crowd implores a local dignitary to allow the bullfighter the honour of cutting and keeping an ear from the beast. In rare cases - and after much cheering - he might be permitted both ears.
Meat-eaters may wonder if the fate of these bulls is any worse than that of cattle processed in a Kiwi meatworks.
The same eye that judges the Spanish taste for bullfighting probably wouldn't look sympathetically upon some of the recreational fishing practices that take place on the Hauraki Gulf.
