Spain: Catalonia Bullfights Enter Final Weekend Before Ban

BARCELONA — Spain's top matadors gathered Saturday for a final weekend of bullfighting before the blood sport is banned in the northeast Catalonia region, and crowds of fans carried them for miles (kilometers) to their hotel after they killed the bulls.

Top flight 'toreros' were on the bill both Saturday and Sunday at the La Monumental arena in Barcelona. They include Jose Tomas, one of Spain's most popular bullfighters.

The ban takes effect Jan. 1, but this weekend's fights are the last events of the 2011 season in the Catalan capital.

The conservative, pro-bullfighting newspaper El Mundo ran an analysis by an economist lamenting that the city will lose money by banning bullfighting that is permitted in all other regions of Spain except in the Canary Islands, where it was prohibited in 1991.

The newspaper published another article that read like an obituary, with vignettes about matadors who made their names in Catalonia and others who died in the ring, including four in Barcelona's La Monumental.

Matador Julian Lopez, known by his nickname of "El Juli," said he was saddened and angered that he will no longer be able to take on bulls in Barcelona's ring.

"This is such a beautiful arena, with a lot of tradition both for bullfighters and for this national celebration," Lopez said.

Hundreds of bullfight supporters chanted "Catalonia is pro-bullfighting" as they accompanied the matadors to their hotel after Saturday's fight.

The bullfighting ban for Catalonia was passed last year, but lawmakers later effectively endorsed other bull traditions blasted as cruel by animal rights activists.

They included the summer pastime of attaching metal brackets to bulls' horns with flaming balls of wax before they are set free to chase people in rings or on the streets of small towns, and letting the beasts chase daredevils near seaside marinas until the bulls plunge into the water.

___

Alan Clendenning and Daniel Woolls contributed from Madrid.

Comments

[AntonioSaucedo]

11:12 AM on 09/28/2011

BF= ritualized hunting.

BF is enjoyed by many in Spain, depending on the area of the country, of course, since Spanish culture is far from homogeneous. But many who don't like or don't care for BF will support it in a "you're not gonna tell me what to do in my home" attitude I find, well, interesting.

[Quimbombo]

12:57 PM on 09/26/2011

Bullfighting !!

Blood sport.

Why Spain still hasn't evolved from when the Roman Empire left Iberia centuries ago.

Glad Catalonia has chosen to join the 21st century.

[Aristontoles]

11:48 AM on 09/25/2011

1) Nobody who likes bullfighting enjoys torturing the bull. If you eat meat, you may enjoy the meat of an animal that has had a terrible life and an even more unpleasant death. However, you don't get any pleasure from its terrible life and death. The same applies to bullfighting. People enjoy the emotion, the 'art' (as they call it), as you enjoy the taste of the meat.
2) If you don't eat meet, but are a nature lover, I'm sure that you enjoy your country walks, bike rides or even the occasional scenic drive. Have you ever wondered how many animals died under your feet or crushed against your helmet or windshield so that you got pleasure from your walk or ride? Think about it. Look in your Volvo or Subaru windshield and count the insects that have suffered a slow and painful death after your pleasant road trip. Or go back the path you walked and look on the ground. In a couple of hours you have killed more insects than bulls are killed in one year in rings of Europe and Latin America.
3) How many children have died of hunger and curable diseases while I was typing this? They say 15 every minute. If I can live with this, why do I get so upset about a (brutal, cruel... you can add the adjective you want) tradition that has been enjoyed for centuries? Isn't that hypocrisy?

[McBeth607]

04:11 PM on 09/26/2011

Absurd. An insect hitting a windshield was not intentional or prolonged torture. Also, they are not mammels.

[Aristontoles]

06:25 PM on 09/26/2011

What is absurd --and hypocritical!-- is to make a fuss about bullfighting when human beings, among many other things, constantly kill animals knowingly and for a variety of reasons --including their own enjoyment. BTW: If you drive you're going to kill animals. If there's intention or not, it's irrelevant. You know that something is going to happen and you do it anyway... The fact that insects aren't mammals doesn't mean that they don't suffer. And their deaths on the windshield are definitely not quick and harmless.

[GeorgiaVeteran]

06:40 AM on 09/25/2011

I lived in Spain for 3 years and have returned several times just to visit and enjoy the culture. Bull fights are much more than the killing of the bull. The entire show can be difficult to watch. Often men ride horses and gore the bulls with spears to weaken the neck muscles (picadors). Other riders stick bandilleros (also sp: banderilleros) in the bulls' necks and shoulders. I have seen the bulls knock the horses to the ground and gore them. (http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/features/bullfighting.shtml).

The sport is certainly controversial in Spain and the sides are far apart in their views. The cultural differences in Spain are quite dramatic as are the languages...much more so than anything found in the (much larger) United States.

[rblackbird]

04:15 PM on 09/24/2011

I saw a news video of a bullfight in Mexico a few years ago. The bull jumped over barriers to get at the audience. He caused a lot of injuries, but was finally restrained and, I believe, put down. I thought, "Good for the bull."

[drdalej]

03:11 PM on 09/24/2011

At least that area of Spain is improving their level of civilization. We, on the other hand, are in many ways going in the other direction. Now ultimate fighting is a "sport". People bashing each other into a bloody pulp with no protection at all. We thought activities like this ended when the Romans stopped feeding people to the lions.

[BlueZoo]

02:01 PM on 09/24/2011

A Basque friend explained it this way: Hunters sit in blinds and kill deer, etc. and that too is bloody. In a bullfight, at least the bull has a fighting chance against the matador. If the bull is killed, it is usually butchered and the meat is used for food. If the bull lives, he is usually put to stud and these bulls are highly prized. Bullfighting has become less acceptable in Spain, as the older people who frequented the bullrings have died off and the younger ones have lost interest. In its heyday, the bullfights were social occasions, with entire families dressing in their finest clothing and visiting other families during the fights. I find bullfights much more acceptable than I do wars where men engage in mayhem and killing of other human beings for nothing more than revenge.

[Fran Jaime]

06:51 PM on 09/24/2011

Except that when a hunter sits in a blind waiting for a deer, he hasn't bled it and tortured it first. When the bull goes into the arena he has already been tortured and bled quite a bit to insure that he will be angry enough. To say that the animal has the same chance as the matador who is healthy and unharmed and there because he wants to be is, well, BULL!

[BlueZoo]

07:02 PM on 09/24/2011

Only in the most disreputable bullrings are the bulls either bled or tortured beforehand. Please don't believe that is true for all the bullrings, particularly in Spain. It is simply untrue.

[gwinegarden]

02:47 PM on 09/25/2011

"...Hunters sit in blinds and kill deer, etc..."

I am not a hunter, but, hunters do not terrify and torture the deer with horses and lances and bandillero­s, before they shoot it.

Not sure about in the Basque area but, in some places, if the bull wins, he just goes back into the ring later.

[BlueZoo]

03:16 PM on 09/25/2011

Yes, in some places the bull is definitely returned to fight another day; however, the best are reserved for stud and, admittedly, these are few. In the Portuguese-style of bullfighting, the bull is never killed in the ring but is definitely butchered for food immediately after the bullfight. Also, horses are only used in the Portuguese-style of bullfighting. Occasionally in Spain, you will come across the Portuguese-style but it is rare, as it is very expensive to produce, requiring at least 11 people in the ring plus horses. I've not seen this style but I understand it is far less bloody.

[gutenmorgen]

01:41 PM on 09/24/2011

I have never quite understood why people enjoyed bullfights. Was it because of the "macho daring" of the matador? Was it because the bulls were symbols for the "unbelievers" and the matador was the Christian hero slaying the Moors? Or was it simply the desire to see a matador gored?

[helioszephyr]

01:40 PM on 09/24/2011

Can't understand why anyone would find teasing/antagonizing and brutally killing, anything living, a sport or entertainment... and then patronizing/glorifying it as a tradition.

Amazing that humans can rationalize brutality as culturally beneficial.

[Sherry Irian]

01:08 PM on 09/24/2011

About d@#$ time they stopped that senseless, inhumane activity. Welcome to the 21st century Spain.

[LibertarianCentrist]

02:08 PM on 09/24/2011

You obviously don't know much about the tradition of bullfighting in spain.... you should educate yourself.

[random100]

02:11 PM on 09/24/2011

Hey Libertarian, you never responded to my post. Do you think citizens united is a good decision that you would like to see remain in place? If not do you think a Romney or other republican would appoint anyone who would overturn it?

[Fran Jaime]

06:52 PM on 09/24/2011

One of the things that led to the baning of bull fighting in Catalonia was that it is an imported custom. That is, Catalonians are not Spaniards, therefore why should they continue with a Spanish tradition.

[DJ1964]

12:16 PM on 09/24/2011

Wishing the bulls a good weekend.

[KennebunkportIndependent]

12:09 PM on 09/24/2011

Seems about as uncivilized as a nation that attacks other countries and kills civilians without being attacked first and without a formal declaration of war. The again, American does claim to be 'exceptional'.

[Nic the wonder puppy]

11:53 AM on 09/24/2011

You know and I know it's a lot of bull

[Sandmanj]

11:52 AM on 09/24/2011

The only bullfight I ever saw was in Barcelona. Back in 1963. One matador got flung all over the ring by a bull and then was gored to death. I vowed never to set foot in one of those places again.

It's ironic that 48 years later, it's all being shut down in that same bullring.

[smpj]

11:51 AM on 09/24/2011

Bull fighting is a barbaric exercise, but in its own way, so is cage boxing. But at least these ring fighters put their health at risk by choice. The Spanish bulls aren't allowed that priviledge.

[KennebunkportIndependent]

12:07 PM on 09/24/2011

I rate their chance as at least as good as the steer being fattened up to make an American greaseburger.

[sig226]

12:47 PM on 09/24/2011

At least the bulls have a chance to inflict pain on those who want him dead. The steer that provided the beef you ate last night did not have that chance. Let bull fighting continue.

[Larissa Cortez Huerta]

01:23 PM on 09/24/2011

this^