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We saw it coming, but now it's official. Catalonia has become the first major region in Spain to outlaw bullfighting.
The ban passed with a 68-55 vote—a higher margin than many expected, and will go into effect in 2010 in the coastal northeastern region of the country. In reality, only one operating bullring (in Barcelona) will be affected—another ring is currently unused and will be turned into a shopping mall—but animal rights advocates are still celebrating the victory.
The New York Times quotes José Ramón Mallén, a representative of animal rights organization Fundación Equanimal: “This is a historic day for all those who have worked to promote animal rights in a modern society like ours... This is not about politics and Catalan identity but about ethics and showing that it’s simply wrong to enjoy watching an animal getting killed in public.”
Catalonia used to produce some of Spain's best bullfighters, and three bullrings used to operate in Barcelona, the state's capital, alone. Now, the only ring that remains operational brings in as few as 400 season ticket holders, compared with 19,000 in a comparable bullring in Madrid.
Animal rights activists are working on Madrid as well, and AP reports that they recently presented a petition with more than 50,000 signatures on the same issue, but fighting the 'fiesta nacional' as part of Madrid's cultural heritage is not an easy battle.
But fresh off the success in Catalonia, animal groups are not giving up. Leonardo Anselmi of the coalition that forced the debate in the first place, said: "The suffering of animals in the Catalan bullrings has been abolished once and for all. It has created a precedent we hope will be replicated by other democratic Parliaments internationally, in those regions and countries where such cruel bullfights are still allowed."
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