On Sunday, Sept. 25, Barcelona Spain made history as it held it's last bullfight. Barcelona and the region of Catalonia have banned bullfighting forever. This was no small feat as bullfighting in Spain has a tradition of being around for some several thousand years. It is thought that the Romans started this cruel sport of torturing and killing a bull in the ring but it was Spain that had adopted and championed the the bullfight.
Touted as a great spectator sport and a show of bravery by the bullfighter, it is actually nothing more than a show of horrible cruelty towards an outnumbered and exhausted bull. The bullfighter only shows up towards the end after men on horseback have stabbed the bull repeatedly with swordlike weapons. By the time the bullfighter enters the ring the bull is worn down and bleeding profusely. There is no show of bravery by the bullfighter. Only a sad and sadistic end to the life of a bull who never had a chance.
Barcelona's ban is effective in Jan. of 2012. Lawmakers voted for the ban last year after 180,000 people signed a petition. It is in the region of Catalonia which currently is the only region in mainland Spain to ban bullfighting. Bullfighting is permitted in all other regions of Spain except in the Canary Islands, which banned it in 1991. On Sunday 6 bulls were killed before a record number crowd of about 20,000. This large a crowd was actually unusual because the attendance at bullfights has dropped considerably in recent years.
All though diehard proponents of bullfighting were very disappointed with the ban and describe it as an age-old art form, animal rights organizations were loudly celebrating this victory. The campaigners to eliminate bullfighting totally hope to extend the ban across the country, but they face a much tougher task in the traditional bullfighting heartlands like Andalucia and Madrid. But for now it is a beginning to an end and forever more there will be no more bulls to die in Barcelona.
Touted as a great spectator sport and a show of bravery by the bullfighter, it is actually nothing more than a show of horrible cruelty towards an outnumbered and exhausted bull. The bullfighter only shows up towards the end after men on horseback have stabbed the bull repeatedly with swordlike weapons. By the time the bullfighter enters the ring the bull is worn down and bleeding profusely. There is no show of bravery by the bullfighter. Only a sad and sadistic end to the life of a bull who never had a chance.
Barcelona's ban is effective in Jan. of 2012. Lawmakers voted for the ban last year after 180,000 people signed a petition. It is in the region of Catalonia which currently is the only region in mainland Spain to ban bullfighting. Bullfighting is permitted in all other regions of Spain except in the Canary Islands, which banned it in 1991. On Sunday 6 bulls were killed before a record number crowd of about 20,000. This large a crowd was actually unusual because the attendance at bullfights has dropped considerably in recent years.
All though diehard proponents of bullfighting were very disappointed with the ban and describe it as an age-old art form, animal rights organizations were loudly celebrating this victory. The campaigners to eliminate bullfighting totally hope to extend the ban across the country, but they face a much tougher task in the traditional bullfighting heartlands like Andalucia and Madrid. But for now it is a beginning to an end and forever more there will be no more bulls to die in Barcelona.
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