Catalonia bans bullfighting

CostaBravaTouristGuide.com — Bullfighting, the savage ‘sport’ of animal torture, has been banned in Catalonia.

The vote comes after 180,000 people signed a petition saying it’s an outdated and brutal form of entertainment.

Supporters of bullfighting argue it’s one of the oldest traditions in the country and should be preserved.

Many people see the vote as something of a tit-for-tat in Catalonia‘s ongoing fight for greater autonomy or even independence.

The local El Periódico newspaper reported that several nationalist deputies had decided to back the ban only after Spain’s constitutional court struck down parts of the region’s 2006 autonomy charter earlier this month, The Guardian writes.

At least 430,000 people, or 6% of all Catalans, protested on 10 July in Barcelona against the court’s decision, which declared Catalonia was not legally a nation.

Catalonia’s ban, which is the first in mainland Spain, comes into effect in January.

Its orange sands have witnessed delight and death. Generations of matadors strutted their way across Barcelona’s Monumental bullring, drawing roars of approval from the crowds as they tormented the hulking bulls with their scarlet capes before killing them with a sword-thrust between the shoulder blades.

But now bullfighting is to be banned from Barcelona and the rest of the north-eastern region of Catalonia after the local parliament today dealt a blow to Spain’s most emblematic pastime and unleashed a political battle over what some see as a threatened cultural treasure.

Deputies voted by 68 to 55 in favour of a people’s petition calling on the bullfight to be banished from a region that once played host to some of the world’s greatest fights. The last matador in Catalan history will sink his sword into the last half-tonne fighting bull at the end of next year, with the ban starting in 2012.

“It is the worst attack on culture since our transition to democracy,” said the Catalan poet Pere Gimferrer.

While some mourned the loss of a cultural jewel, the vote was hailed by animal rights campaigners worldwide. Ricky Gervais and Pamela Anderson were among the 140,000 who signed an international petition to the Catalan parliament.

“It sickens me to know that people are still paying money to see an animal suffering in such a horrific way,” Gervais said before the vote.

About 13,500 fighting bulls die in Spain every year – many in bullfights funded by local authorities who are estimated to pay out up to €550m (£457m) in subsidies. [1]

Horrendous Animal Abuse

Fans of the activity often wax eloquently about the ‘beauty’ of seeing the toro and toreo charge and counter-charge.

But while supporters pretend that bullfighting is more or less an equal fight, websites such as Stop Bullfighting, describe that the animal’s torture starts long before it enters the ring:

The bull is not an aggressive animal, and the reason he is angry and attempts to charge at the matador whilst in the bullring is mainly because he has been horrendously abused for the previous two days.

In fact, what spectators see is not a normal, healthy bull, but a weakened, half-blinded and mentally destroyed version, whose chances of harming his tormentors is virtually nil. The bull has wet newspapers stuffed into his ears; vaseline is rubbed into his eyes to blur his vision; cotton is stuffed up his nostrils to cut off his respiration and a needle is stuck into his genitals.

Also, a strong caustic solution is rubbed onto his legs which throws him off balance. This also keeps him from lying down on the ground. In addition to this, drugs are administered to pep him up or slow him down, and strong laxatives are added to his feed to further incapacitate him.

He is kept in a dark box for a couple of days before he faces the ring: the purpose of this is to disorientate him. When he is let out of the box, he runs desperately towards the light at the end of the tunnel. He thinks that at last his suffering is over and he is being set free — instead, he runs into the bullring to face his killers and a jeering mob. [2]

Boycott calls

Over the years many tourists have debate on whether or not to heed calls to boycott Spain as a tourist destination over the issue of bullfighting.

Such boycott efforts are likely to continue as long as bulls are still being tortured in much of Spain. This includes the so-called running of the bulls.

At the same time, aside from bullfighting strongholds such as Andalusia and Madrid support for the tradition has been waning throughout the country.

Earlier this year Antonio Moreno, president of Cacma, an animal rights association in Andalusia, told a British newspapers, “An overwhelming majority of Spaniards, 76 per cent according to Gallup surveys in 2009, are not in favor of bullfighting.”
– – © Copyright CostaBravaTouristGuide.com. Do not republish or repost.