PhD viva, Communication Department, Pompeu Fabra University

Title: COMPASSION IN (S)PAIN. How Interest Groups Contribute to the Perpetuation of Animal Captivity and Exhibition

Author: Olatz Aranceta-Reboredo

Supervisor: Dr. Núria Almiron Roig

Tribunal members

Chair: Dra. Claudia Alonso, University of Valencia

Secretary: Dr. Christopher Tulloch, Pompeu Fabra University

Vocal: Dr. Richard Twine, Edge-Hill University

Event details

• Date: December 11, 2025
• Time: 9.30h
• Room: Sala de conferències
• Language: English

Abstract

This doctoral thesis examines the strategic communication of interest groups in Spain’s animal-based entertainment industry. The research analyses their discourse and how it is used to legitimise their practices, maintain social support, and counteract rising societal concerns about animal ethics and welfare. It situates the animal-based entertainment industry not only as a cultural and economic actor but also a discursive agent whose communications shape public perception, public debates, and influence political and regulatory outcomes. Two central goals guide the analysis. First, to map and identify the discursive practices of interest groups of the animal-based entertainment in Spain. Second, to assess how these discourses interact with broader social concerns, particularly compassion towards nonhuman animals, and how they respond to these concerns through narratives, coalitions and strategic framing. To achieve this, the research focuses on the following sectors: zoological park industry, bullfighting, dog racing, horse racing, and cockfighting. Methodologically, this thesis combines critical discourse analysis, media analysis and semi-structured interviews. The corpus is formed by the content on the webpage of the interest groups, documentaries, official reports, campaign materials, news coverage and interviews with workers of the zoological park industry. Findings reveal that the industry in Spain engages in strategic, cohesive and adaptive communications that align their practices with socially desirable values and minimise or reframe ethical concerns. Through the practice of “lobbying against compassion”, and ethics-washing, the actors contribute to the perpetuation of social consent to increasingly contested practices

​​​​​​Keywords: Strategic communication; Entertainment; Critical Discourse Analysis; Discursive coalition; Discursive Network; Ethics washing.