Watch your step, readers:
"To mix of cheers and jeers, Spanish region bans bullfighting" by Joseph Wilson, Associated Press | July 29, 2010
BARCELONA — Lawmakers in Catalonia outlawed bullfighting yesterday, making it Spain’s first major region to ban the deadly, centuries-old ballet between matador and beast after heated debate that pitted animal rights against a pillar of traditional culture....
Catalonia is a wealthy area with its own language and a large degree of self-rule.
Do they have their own terror arm like the Basques?
Many in Spain have seen the pressure here for a bullfighting ban as a further bid by Catalonia to stand out from the rest of the country.
The practical effect of the ban will be limited: Catalonia has only one functioning bullring, in Barcelona, while another disused one is being turned into a shopping mall.
And in trying to get away from the bull you are always going to step in some s***:
Still, bullfighting buffs and Spanish conservatives have taken the drama very seriously, seeing a stinging anti-Spanish rebuke in the grass roots, antibullfighting drive that started in the region last year.
But Joan Puigcercos, a lawmaker from a Catalan pro-independence party, insisted this was not about politics or national identity but rather “the suffering of the animal. That is the question, nothing more.’’
He said that even though attendance at bullfights is on the decline in Spain, it would be morally wrong to sit back and let the Spanish national pastime die a natural death.
However, the Catalan regional president, Jose Montilla, said Catalonia should have done just that: Let social customs evolve to the point where bullfighting would vanish on its own, rather than legislate an end to it and deny people’s right to choose whether to go the ring....
What about the right of the animal to not be tormented?
--more--"
Soccer Sunday: Globe Picks Spain to Win World Cup
Spain Slips Out From Behind the Curtain
