Spanish region discusses a ban on bullfighting

Barcelona - The parliament of the wealthy north-eastern region of Catalonia was Friday preparing to vote on what could become a ground-breaking ban on Spain's bullfighting tradition in the region. If the legal initiative launched by an anti-bullfighting platform wins preliminary approval by the regional parliament, Catalonia could become the second Spanish region to ban bullfights after the Canary Islands did so in 1991.

The anti-bullfighting platform Prou collected 180,000 signatures to back its initiative, nearly four times as many as needed to bring it before parliament.

Far-left and environmentalist parties supported the ban, conservatives opposed it while Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialists and the large Catalan nationalist formation CiU gave their legislators freedom to vote for or against.

The ban was likely to be approved, analysts said.

The vote launched a debate about bullfighting in Spain where opinion polls show its popularity has declined.

Only 19 per cent of Spaniards younger than 24 years take an interest in the spectacle, according to a 2006 poll.

Criticism of bullfights is strongest in Catalonia, a region of 7 million, where the regional capital Barcelona and dozens of other municipalities have declared their opposition to the sport.

Two of Barcelona's three bullrings have been closed, though the last remaining one still draws crowds for top bullfighters.

Opponents of bullfighting see it as a form of animal torture during which the bullfighter's assistants stick long darts into the animal's neck to build up its fury.

In the final "moment of truth," the matador is expected to kill the bull with a single thrust of his sword into the back of its neck, but many bullfighters are not that skillful and wound the animal several times.

Those defending bullfights see it as an ancient and important part of Spanish culture, which has inspired artists like the painter Pablo Picasso and the US writer Ernest Hemingway.

A ban on corridas would violate the basic freedoms of bullfighting fans, the Catalan bullfighting lobby said, arguing that the tradition should die a natural death if it was no longer popular.

The Canary Islands banned bullfights in 1991. The law in question did not specifically target bullfights, which were no longer taking place on the islands, but cockfights which remained popular there.