Spain's top court overturns Catalonia bullfighting ban
October 20, 2016
Spanish judges have canceled a local ban on bullfighting in Catalonia, saying it violated a national law protecting the practice. The ruling could increase tensions between the separatist region and Madrid.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M.H. De Leon
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The Catalan bullfighting ban was declared "unconstitutional and void," Spain's Constitutional Court said in a statement on Thursday.
The powerful northeastern region banned the practice in 2010, becoming the second region in Spain to do so after the Canary Islands in 1991. Catalonia's ban went into effect in early 2012.
The ban came about in part due to a growing movement against bullfighting, but it was also seen as a political move in the Catalan government's attempts to break from Spain. Catalonia's ban had few practical effects as it only had one operating bullring in Barcelona.
At the time, the Catalan government said the ban was to protect bulls but officials did not prohibit events featuring bulls running around with flaming wax balls or fireworks attached to their horns.
Tensions with Madrid
Thursday's court ruling followed a challenge by Spain's conservative Popular Party which is headed by acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
The court's ruling noted that although regional authorities can generally regulate public spectacles, bullfighting is classified as part of Spain's heritage. A ban, therefore, is a matter for the central government, the court said.
The decision drew immediate reactions from politicians and animal rights activists.
"In the Spanish state, it's unconstitutional to ban the public torture and murder of an animal. Enough said," tweeted Gabriel Rufian, a Catalan separatist lawmaker in national parliament.
Alicia Sanchez-Camacho, president of the Catalan branch of the Popular Party, said she "welcomed" the decision and would "continue to defend" freedom and bullfighting.
Animal rights party PACMA also criticized the decision as politically-motivated, with party member Ana Bayle saying: "Once more, they have used animals in a political war. They don't know anything about animals, nor do they care."
Catalonia's regional government is pushing to hold an independence referendumin 2017, with a view to seceding from Spain. It's not the first such attempt. The Spanish government has said they will not allow the referendum or secession to take place.
In recent times, nearly 20 other Spanish cities and towns slashed funding for bullfights and bull runs or passed measures to condemn the practices.
Other controversial Spanish traditions involving animals, such as throwing a live goat off a tall church steeple onto a crowd below, have also been banned over the years.
rs/msh (AP, AFP)
Bullfighting: A cruel and dangerous spectator sport
A bullfighter was fatally gored in Spain, the first professional matador to be killed in the ring in over three decades. Bullfighting has come under fire in recent years by animal rights activists.
Image: Reuters/S. Vera
The running of the bulls
Pamplona's Sanfermines festival is held annually between July 7 and 14. Though its most famous event is the encierro, or the running of the bulls, the festival comprises many other traditional events. The fiesta's fame grew with Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and attracts thousands of foreign tourists every year.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Two men seriously injured
Two Spanish men were in serious condition after being gored on Sunday, the fourth day of the running of the bulls. More than 1,000 participants packed the narrow cobblestoned streets of Pamplona's old town. The bulls came out strong from the starting gate and completed the 850-meter (2,800-foot) run within two and a half minutes.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
First fatality in over three decades
The Spanish bullfighter Victor Barrio was gored to death in front of horrified spectators at a corrida on Saturday, becoming the first matador to be killed in the ring in over three decades. Barrio, 29, was struck in the chest by the massive bull, who tossed him in the air before he fell to the ground. He was pronounced dead late Saturday by a surgeon at the Teruel bullring.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/JJ. Guillen
Widespread reaction
The goring of Barrio was broadcast live on television, and news of his death brought widespread reaction, including from within the bullfighting sector and from well-known politicians. Participants at the running of the bulls on Sunday at the San Fermin festivities in Pamplona wore improvised black armbands in honor of the fallen matador.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M.H. De Leon
Giants and Big-heads
The streets of Pamplona are also home to the traditional Gigantes y Cabezudos (Giants and Big-heads). The giants are hollow figures, several meters tall, with painted paper heads and arms. The rest of the body is covered in cloth.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Activists denounce the blood sport
Covered in fake blood, animal liberation activists demonstrate for the abolition of bull runs and bullfights. This demonstration took place on July 5, just before the start of the festival in Pamplona. Such events have come under fire in Spain. Several regions have enacted measures against bullfighting.
Image: Reuters/E. Alonso
Opposition gains momentum
Covered in fake blood, members of the AnimaNaturalis organization hold placards as they stage a protest against bullfighting in front of Valencia's city hall. This demonstration took place during the Fallas Festival on March 13.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Jordan
Fifteen casualties since 1924
Ten people, including four Americans, were gored in the San Fermin festival last year. In all, 15 people have died from gorings in the festival since 1924.
