Last chance for bullfighting in Catalonia

Barcelona (ACN).- On 28th July 2010, the Catalan Parliament made a historic step towards the banning of bullfights. It is not the first area within the Spanish state to do so (the Canary Islands did so in 1991) but it is certainly the most controversial ban to date. Despite the passionate debate that the ban stirred, it is not a partisan issue with no clear distinction between liberals or conservatives on this point. However, the Catalan People’s Party (PPC) is currently using the subject as a political weapon, conditioning their support to the Catalan Government’s budget to a moratorium on the prohibition of bullfighting.

The prohibition is expected to become effective on the 1st January 2012. The current season might therefore be the last one for bullfighting fans in Barcelona. However, the Catalan People’s Party (PPC), the most conservative Catalan party, is making the survival of bullfighting a condition to their support of the Catalan Government budget. The PPC is asking the majority party (the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Party, CiU) for a moratorium of the ban that would postpone the prohibition to 2015. The conservatives argue that the Catalan Government cannot afford the losses from the bullfighting business that a ban would cost, especially now, in the time of economic hardship. They defend that the cost could rise as high as 450 million euros, while the government reduces this figure to just 4 million, according to the 2010 season turnover. The Catalan Parliament, though, rejected the moratorium. Simultaneously, many bullfighting associations are collecting signatures to present their case, at the state legal level, that bullfighting is a national icon of Cultural Interest, while others have begun the same process for UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) recognition. The PPC has also presented an appeal to the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) alleging that the Catalan ban interferes with the state competence for the defence of cultural patrimony. If the Constitutional court considers this demand to be incompatible with the Spanish Constitution the decision would come as a great shock for the pro-animals rights association Prou! (Enough! in Catalan) that spent a year and a half working on this campaign before the vote in the Catalan Parliament. Their position is that bullfighting is a public spectacle of torture and death that a civilised society would not allow. This activity, they argue, distances Catalonia from Europe. Bullfighters defend themselves by resorting to principles of freedom and respect for an ancient tradition they define as art. They are especially critical of what they see as the hypocritical protection of other Catalan popular celebrations such as the Correbous or Embolats that have the bull as a protagonist –although it is not killed. Shortly after the ban on bullfights, the Catalan Parliament approved by a large majority a motion protecting these traditions, which sometimes include hitting the bull with sticks or tying lit torches onto their horns. For these reasons, many in the pro-bullfighting lobby think that the decision is actually due to identity politics, given that the ‘toros' typically come from southern Spain. It is undeniable that bullfighting represents a certain “Spain” and opposition to bullfights has been seen as more of an identity question that goes beyond the distinctions between right or left wing parties. As for the vote, socialists voted in a large majority against the ban while CiU voted in favour. The debate also mirrors the growing tendencies towards the consideration of animal welfare, giving greater power to animal rights groups. Lluís Villacorta, a pro-animal rights activist, who has demonstrated every weekend against bullfighting, explains: “It is about ethics and not aesthetics”. In fact, in the prohibition proposal of the organization Prou!, made no reference to cultural or identity questions, as shown by the 120,000 international signatures that the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) sent to the Catalan Parliament. Spectator numbers have been even decreasing every year. In Catalonia, La Monumental is the last bullfighting square that is still open and only the most popular bullfighter, José Tomás, has filled the stadium. This lack of support in Catalonia is easy to explain according to Paco Píriz, President of the Bullfighting Association of Catalonia Union: “There are no season tickets, the prices are high [prices go from 34 to 145€] and there are no tie-in activities”. If it is closed, La Monumental could see itself converted into a large commercial centre, as it happened with Las Arenas, the other bullfighting square in Barcelona.