Barcelona to stage final Spanish bullfight
The ban on bullfighting takes effect in Catalonia -- which has its own language and where many seek independence from Spain -- on January 1, 2012, in the biggest setback to the tradition in the country.
It is the first region in mainland Spain to ban the tradition. Spain's Canary Islands banned bullfighting in 1991.
"This is one of the great arenas, it draws top bullfighters. For a city like Barcelona to close this arena is like throwing a Picasso painting into the garbage," said 68-year-old Cristobal, who declined to give his last name, near the arena just before the final bullfight.
The first matador to step into the ring will be 38-year-old Juan Mora, then the legendary 36-year-old Jose Tomas and last the 28-year-old Catalan Serafin Marin, a fierce defender of the Spanish tradition.
In two rounds the trio will put to death all six of the beasts bred for battle by the El Pilar ranch.
"God willing, I will have the sad honour of killing the final bull," Marin told AFP in an interview, saying it was very important for him to be in the ring for the last fight before the ban.
Tickets for the final bullfight cost between 24 euros and 135 euros ($32 and 182).
A scalper offered the cheapest seats for 150 euros and the most expensive for 810 euros -- six times the orginal price.
Catalan regional members of parliament voted July 2010 to ban bullfighting from next year after animal rights groups managed to garner 180,000 signatures for a petition demanding the debate.
Marin said he agreed with critics who say the ban is not so much a victory for animal rights as a way for independence-minded Catalans to thumb their noses at the rest of Spain.
He pointed out that other festivals, including one in which flaming torches are attached to the horns of a bull, which is then pursued through the streets, will survive the new regime.
"I feel bad about it, sad. They take away all your past and part of your future," said Marin, vowing to enter the ring in other parts of Spain and in France.
Inspired by the success in Catalonia, animal rights activists have vowed to push for bans in other regions as well.
"We have won a battle but not the war. We will continue to work for animal rights in Spain, Catalonia and elsewhere," said Helena Escoda, member of the rights group Prou, Catalan for "enough", which fought for the ban.
About a dozens animal rights activists protested on Sunday outside the Monumental arena.
"It is a small achievement but it does not console me, the bulls that don't die here will be killed in the rest of the country or in France," said Lluis Villacorta, a 47-year-old economist who took part in the protest with his face and clothes painted red.
The bullfight has a long tradition in Catalonia, going back to the 16th century, but as in the rest of Spain interest in the sport is falling.
Barcelona, Spain's second-largest city, had three bullrings at one point. But the Monumental, the city's last active arena, hosted just 18 bullfights last year.
In a 2008 survey, only 22.5 percent of Catalans questioned said they were interested in the tradition which is carried out across the country.
There is little sign that any other Spanish region is poised to follow Catalonia's example, with the staunchest bullfighting supporters to be found in Madrid and southern Andalusia, the heartland of the sport.
Bullfighting fans in Catalonia have not given up hope: they aim to find 500,000 backers to present their own petition to the national parliament and classify the combat as a cultural asset.
If they can do so by the end of this year, bullfighting fans believe they can stop the ban taking effect.
"At the moment the gathering of signatures is going more slowly that we like," admitted Carlos Nunez, head of the fighting-bull breeders' union.
Source: lifestyle
