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Bullfighting |
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 People who are in favour see bullfighting as culture, a century old tradition or in some people’s view even an art form or dance. They say the bulls had a good life (they graze outside) and that’s a better quality of life than for animals in the bio industry which also get killed in the end. They say these animals would become extinct because it’s expensive to keep them. The opponents though see it as unnecessary animal cruelty for the bulls (and also for the horses). A majority of the Spanish nowadays also are against this controversial tradition. The animals are tortured and killed out of pure entertainment. Also they are often wounded or hurt before the ‘game’ to influence the match. Campaigners who are against blood sports still hope to one day end this Spanish tradition.
The fight follows a strict protocol. A bullfighter is called torero and the one who finally kills the bull is called matador. Almost all bigger cities in Spain and especially Andalusia have their own arena or bull ring. Bullfights also occur in the South of France, Portugal and South America. The meat of the bull nowadays is a delicacy (especially the tail). The arena of Ronda (built on the fundaments of an old Roman theatre) has been used since 1804 and is known as the oldest bullfighting arena of Spain. A museum is located next to it. Mijas has the only square bullfighting arena.
Organisations like the Dutch CAS International (Comity Against Bullfighting) try to end bull fights and other kinds of festivals where bulls are tortured and killed (like the bull running in Pamplona). Barcelona was in 2004 the first city to forbid bullfights.
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