Pressure mounts to ban bullfights in Spain's Catalonia (News Feature)

By Sinikka Tarvainen May 19, 2009, 9:36 GMT

Madrid - Admirers of bullfighting see it as one of Spain's most powerful cultural expressions - the only art in which the artist risks his life, as the late US writer Ernest Hemingway put it.

Increasing numbers of Spaniards, however, see the country's 'national spectacle' in a different light - as a cruel bloodsport in which a tortured animal is given no chance to defeat its opponent.

Opposition to bullfighting is mounting especially in north-eastern Catalonia, which could become Spain's first region to ban corridas, anti-bullfighting campaigner Eric Gallego told the German Press Agency dpa in a telephone interview.

Gallego is spokesman for Prou, a platform which has collected 180,000 signatures in a bid to outlaw bullfights and many of the related bull spectacles in the wealthy region of about 7 million residents.

That is nearly four times as many signatures as required to stage a debate on an eventual bullfighting ban at the regional parliament, once authenticity of the signatures has been officially confirmed.

The campaign has the backing of personalities such as philosopher Salvador Paniker, journalist Pilar Rahola or US actress Pamela Anderson.

Many of the Catalan political parties are still undecided over the proposed ban, but Gallego believes there to be a fair chance that the region could outlaw bullfights by November.

'There is so little interest in them that all the Catalan bullrings have been closed, except for the one in Barcelona, which is maintained largely by tourism income,' Gallego said.

The Catalan bullfighting lobby, however, disputes such views, pointing out that Spain's top bullfighters draw large numbers of spectators in the region.

Bullfighting is losing popularity in all of Spain, especially among young people. Fewer than 30 per cent of Spaniards take an interest in the spectacle, polls show.

Bullfighting nevertheless remains a multimillion-dollar industry in Spain, where matadors donning sparkling suits kill thousands of bulls annually.

The tradition is maintained partly by public subsidies to bull breeders, bullrings and associations of bullfighting fans, Gallego points out.

Opponents say the bull has no chance against the matador, because its horns are made shorter and it is weakened by sticking darts into its back.

Matadors do risk being injured, but it is very rare for them to be killed by bulls.

The decreasing interest in bullfighting is seen as reflecting the evolution of society, including alternative forms of entertainment, and a growing awareness of animal rights.

The Catalan law on animal protection, for instance, prohibits public spectacles causing suffering to animals - with the only exception of bullfights and bull runs.

The latter are more popular than bullfights in Catalonia, Gallego said. They may involve placing burning objects on a bull's horns or dragging the animal on the ground from a rope which has been tied around its neck.

'We do not enter the debate on whether Catalonia has a (strong) tradition of bullfighting,' Prou representative Jennifer Berengueras said. 'What we ask for is coherence with the law.'

In 2004, the Barcelona city council approved a declaration expressing opposition to bullfights, but about 125,000 people nevertheless attended corridas in its Monumental bullring in 2008.

Bullfights featuring star matador Jose Tomas, for instance, are sold out weeks in advance, Catalan bullfighting professionals' representative Jose Segura said.

Bullfighting enthusiasts would 'defend the fiesta until death,' Segura vowed.

Some animal rights campaigners have proposed Portuguese-style 'light' bullfights, in which the animal is not killed in front of the public, but Gallego does not believe that such a compromise could work in Catalonia or elsewhere in Spain.

'Spaniards would not go to such corridas,' he says. 'Here, the public wants to see the animal get killed.'