Looking for Wedge From Spain, Catalonia Bans Bullfighting

(by Raphael Minder nytimes.com 7-28-10)

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/world/europe/29spain.html?_r=0

 



Lawmakers in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia voted to ban bullfighting on Wednesday, dealing the most significant blow so far to a tradition considered by many Spaniards to be an essential part of their cultural patrimony.

 

In many ways, however, the ban reflected less on the animal rights than on a political debate over Catalan identity and a push by local parties for greater independence from the rest of Spain. With the strong support of separatist parties, the ban passed by a larger margin than expected: 68 to 55, with 9 abstentions. It is to go into effect in 2012.

 

The ban — the first in mainland Spain — comes at a time of decline for bullfighting in real terms, if not in emotional power. Reliant on state subsidies, bullfighting has suffered heavily from forced cuts in public financing. The impact has been particularly felt in smaller towns, where indebted local administrations have had to cancel bullfights, once the focus of annual festivities. The number of such bullfighting fiestas has dropped by almost a third from 2007.

The decline is particularly sharp in Catalonia, home to some of the country’s first bullfighting societies and leading bullfighters. The main city, Barcelona, once operated three bullrings to cater to a fanatic public. Now, there is just one bullring, La Monumental, which attracts as few as 400 season-ticket holders. Madrid’s main, similarly sized bullring draws 19,000.

Still, the ban was hailed as a major victory by animal welfare groups that have long crusaded against what they consider to be a barbaric practice.
 
“This is a historic day for all those who have worked to promote animal rights in a modern society like ours,” said José Ramón Mallén, a representative of Fundación Equanimal, an animal rights organization. “This is not about politics and Catalan identity, but about ethics and showing that it’s simply wrong to enjoy watching an animal getting killed in public.”

The vote came amid intense political bickering in the wake of a contested ruling last month by Spain’s constitutional court on a Catalan autonomy charter, which has been approved by Catalonia’s 5.5 million voters as well as the Spanish Parliament. The court endorsed most of the charter but struck out a legal claim to nationhood, among other points that Catalan separatists demanded.
The vote also came ahead of Catalan regional elections this year. Catalan separatism has been gradually gaining ground since the late 1970s and the end of the Franco dictatorship. The re-establishing of Catalan as an official language is arguably the separatists’ most notable achievement so far.

The Catalan Parliament last month approved a law to have 50 percent of foreign movies dubbed or subtitled in Catalan, despite concerns in Hollywood about higher distribution costs.

One bullfighter, Vicente Barrera, criticized the ban as politically oriented. “Bullfighting is an art, and Catalonia is abandoning for ridiculous political reasons the tradition and culture that makes Spain so special,” he said.

While recognizing that such a ban suited their broader separation goals, some lawmakers also emphasized that animal welfare had developed into a major concern.

“This is not an attack against Spain but evidence that we, Catalans, support and share more advanced values with the rest of Europe,” said Josep Rull, a lawmaker from Convergence and Union, a Catalan party. “We can be proud to have demonstrated today that Catalonia has a more dignified and respectful society that believes in eliminating the torture and suffering of animals.”

However, José Montilla, the head of the regional government, said he voted against the ban and lamented the fact that the issue had been turned into “a thermometer” to measure the state of the relationship between Catalonia and the rest of Spain.

Lawmakers from Spain’s largest center-right group, the Popular Party, led the opposition to the ban, citing political, cultural as well as economic grounds. The party’s leading spokesman and representative in the European Parliament, Jaime Mayor Oreja, said the ban was proof of a separatist “assault” from Catalonia and reflected “the profound national crisis that Spain is enduring.”

In the weeks leading to the Catalonia ban, there was fierce lobbying on both sides, with supporters of bullfighting warning that they would take legal action against any move that would breach basic rights — including the right to work — enshrined in the Spanish Constitution. Some argued that a ban would be akin to prohibiting painting, because bullfighters regularly receive national arts awards and their activities form part of the cultural coverage of newspapers and other media.

Barcelona must now decide what to do with La Monumental, one of the world’s leading bullrings. And the bullfighting sector is expected to try to claim hundreds of millions of dollars to offset losses resulting from the ban — although that figure has been contested by opponents of bullfighting.

The roster of famed Catalonian bullfighters includes Joaquín Bernadóa and Mario Cabré (who also appeared with Ava Gardner in the 1951 film “Pandora and the Flying Dutchman”).