Catalonia is the first region in mainland Spain to ban bullfighting – a highly controversial issue. One argument is that not only is bullfighting part of Spanish tradition, but it is also an industry that directly employs around 40,000 people. This is important at a time where Spain is suffering greatly as a result of the economic crisis. The other argument actually considers the rights of the animal as well as the morality of such a practice.
But Catalonia is not the only region in Spain to ban this blood-sport. In 1991, the Canary Islands banned all spectacles that include cruelty to animals. And bullfighting definitely fits into that category. Not only do they kill the bull, but they also taunt it beforehand.
A lot of non-Spanish tourists are against bullfighting (like me), but still participate in it – I almost did. I am talking about the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. Even looking online, it doesn’t mention that the bulls are killed. I have read a lot of articles over the last few years about how they are putting anti-slip surfaces on the sharp corners so that the bulls don’t slip. But why bother? – they just kill them at the end anyway. The whole ‘festival’ taunts the bulls for hours and hours before they eventually herd them into a ring for the final showdown in front of a huge crowd.
At first I had wanted to go, but the more I spoke to people about it and the more I read, the more convinced I was that I would never participate in such a practice. While I understand that bullfighting is part of Spanish culture and history, I really think that these practices should be changed and adapted to better suit the changing values of society.
Such as this alternative (2008):
I don’t understand it at all. Step forward the following activities: foxhunting, cockfighting and dogfighting, pig shooting (a special kind of fun here in Australia?) etc etc. People sometimes are really strange….