Catalonia, a semi-autonomous area located in the north eastern part of Spain that includes Barcelona, the nation’s second largest city (and most interesting), has voted to ban bullfighting. Bullfighting and the Matador (translation: “the killer”), has been a fixture of traditional Spanish culture for centuries. At least for this part of Spain, bullfighting will come to an end in 2012 – coincidently, the same year that the Mayans told the Spanish Conquistadors a series of cataclysmic or transformative events will occur ending the world as they would know it.
Putting aside the 2012 end of the world Mayan prediction, on the surface the bullfighting ban sounds like a big win for animal rights groups the world over. The truth however is much less to do about the senseless torture and bloodletting of a defenseless animal solely for the entertainment value of the local population, than it is about the economics of Catalonia as well as the rest of Spain.
There is but one bullfighting ring in Catalonia and it is sparsely attended, this due most likely to the poor economy (Spain’s unemployment is about 20%), or perhaps due to an increasingly number of young and well educated population of Catalonia that finds this archaic form of entertainment (first introduced by the Romans) a shameful embarrassment to this E.U. member nation. Whatever the reason, banning bullfighting in this one part of Spain is a step in the right direction.
I will confess I will miss the news clips of that rare and exciting, one in a million, moment when the tortured bull actually wins by either chasing its torturer and killer out of the bullfighting ring or gorging him in the most unusual places with its horn – now that’s entertainment!
Ouch! Yes, I agree that looks like it really hurts … and who is to say not justly deserved!
bullfighting is disgusting
I am happy to see that the bull gets his sometimes