Catalonia bans bullfighting

[RedGuard]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15050706

what do you all think about this? to me banning bullfighting in spain would be like banning oktoberfest in bavaria. i can see you don't want to kill the animals but its trafition.

[neoptolemos]

The tradition can't survive simply being a "tradition".
What the catalonian people wants and which are its sensitivities, define the decision.

[cupoftea]

Good, tradition is overrated anyway.

[Stavroforos]

I don't support the banning of bullfighting, but if the Catalan people want to see it end, then the best way to do so would be to simply not attend bullfighting tournaments, and so the tradition can be put down in a way in which few people will miss it once it's gone.

[Menelik_I]

I don't support the banning of bullfighting, but if the Catalan people want to see it end, then the best way to do so would be to simply not attend bullfighting tournaments, and so the tradition can be put down in a way in which few people will miss it once it's gone.

^I agree with this.

Banning bullfighting smacks of ''All your Bull are belong to us'' and ''I am way to immature to support bullfighting I don't attend'' Hippie .

Don't like bullfighting, don't attend it is a simple decision you can do personally, banning the practice is trying to impose your sentiments on others.

[Border Patrol]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[hellheaven1987]

Instead banning bullfighting it is better to introduce measurements that make the match fair, so less bullfighters would dare to challenge.

[The Despondent Mind]

I don't support the banning of bullfighting, but if the Catalan people want to see it end, then the best way to do so would be to simply not attend bullfighting tournaments, and so the tradition can be put down in a way in which few people will miss it once it's gone.

If I were a bull i would rather die in by those toreadors with dramatism then in a stupid slaughterhouse.

[Admiral Piett]

The reason this actually passed probably has less to do with animal rights and a lot more to do with Catalans wanting to assert their cultural independence from Spain more and more. This isn't the first issue thats popped up as a result of growing Aragonese-Catalan reawakening.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10784611

Catalan nationalism
The vote was close as the two main parties in parliament took the unusual step of allowing members to cast their ballots according to their conscience.

But while the official debate is over animal rights, many believe this process is an attempt by nationalist-minded Catalans to mark their difference from the rest of Spain by rejecting one of its best known traditions.

Pro-bullfighting groups fear that a ban could spark a wave of similar campaigns across the country. They argue that threatens the livelihood of thousands of people.

The first Spanish region to ban bullfighting was the Canary Islands, in 1991.

Also, as hyped up as the Spanish traditionalists are about this, the majority of Spaniards continue not to care about bullfighting.

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/spanish/...Toros_0702.htm

[Claudius Gothicus]

I'm divided on this.

On one side I'm not in favor of the ritualized torture of animals(which is bullfighting) but on the other I'm not a big fan of overruling cultures for the sake of ''being nice''.

[Sphere]

I don't want bullfighting/running etc. banned, but my main motivation is that I am a big Hemingway fan.

[PointOfViewGun]

Whatever the reason, it's a good move.

[Portuguese Rebel]

I'm portuguese and we have a variant of bullfighting that doesn't end with the killing of the bull. Apparently in the past we diverged from the spanish as we considered the killing of the bull in the arena (along with the horrible cutting of body parts will the animal is still alive) distasteful.

Now, the Catalans could have gone this way, but they have forbid it completely. This means that there is more in this than simply animal rights. Bullfighting is a symbol of Spain. That's the main issue. This is about Independence.

And in fact i sympathize. In 1640 we restored our independence and they tried too. We managed to pull it off and they didn't. And when i speak with a friend from Barcelona he says things like "Those Spanish bastards", totally not identifying himself as one. It runs deep there!

[Sadreddine]

Indeed, it's a cultural challenge. And yes, bullfighting in Spain is a brutal tradition. I'm also against it but even today it's very popular, specially amongst the rural types.

However, I wonder if this isn't but a cheap move to divert the public local attention from more serious matters. Apparently, Catalonia's public debt is absurdly high if you compare it with other spanish regions, and the whole public health&care system is suffering a lot. And I doubt the short-sighted 'nationalist' game is being of any help in the needed cost-cutting measures, as well. On the contrary.

Spanish nationalists vs. Catalonian nationalists. Just like two kids playing with daddy's gun. Almost literally.

[CiviC]

It may seem a barbaric practice, but it's far less barbaric then what happens in slaughter houses. It's just hypocrisy to say the reason is to be more humane.

Also the Portuguese way of fighting bulls is more elegant, but I don't say Spanish people should renounce their tradition.

It's also a shame Catalonians equal Spanish with Castillians, Catalans should consider themselves Spanish too, after all Spain was made by the union of Castille and Aragon (Catalonia being the main part of Aragon).

[Col. Tartleton]

What if they replaced the bulls?

I'd much rather watch Matadors duel each other to first blood like a couple of conceited Zorros than Toreadors fighting bulls.

[Ebusitanus]

I'd much rather watch Matadors duel each other to first blood like a couple of conceited Zorros than Toreadors fighting bulls.

[The Despondent Mind]

It may seem a barbaric practice, but it's far less barbaric then what happens in slaughter houses. It's just hypocrisy to say the reason is to be more humane.

I'd much rather watch Matadors duel each other to first blood like a couple of conceited Zorros than Toreadors fighting bulls.

[Ebusitanus]

The "funny" part is that other more "traditional" catalonian ways to hound bulls (Correbous) is being protected as cultural heritage. Its all about showing how so diferent and independent Catalans are in regards to the rest of the peninsula.

[LordKainES]

The "funny" part is that other more "traditional" catalonian ways to hound bulls (Correbous) is being protected as cultural heritage. Its all about showing how so diferent and independent Catalans are in regards to the rest of the peninsula.

You said all! that´s the reason sadly...