AR-News: Please send support letters to Catalonian authorities to ban bullfights

[סמדר]

From: Maria Lopes
marialopes at 2kat.net


INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT AGAINST BULLFIGHTS
MOVIMENTO INTERNACIONAL ANTI-TOURADAS
MOVIMIENTO INTERNACIONAL ANTITAURINO
MOUVEMENT INTERNATIONAL ANTI CORRIDAS
www.2kat.net/iwab
marialopes at 2kat.net

Dear friends,

Next 6th April will be a vote on whether to ban or not bullfights in
Barcelona , Catalonia.

Please send emails to the authorities of Catalonia to encourage them to ban
bullfights.

We pass the list below. Write in your own language since the Catalonian
authorities will understand. Just some lines, like for instance you will be
very pleased to visit a region free of animal cruelty.

Meanwhile a correction to the article below, the number of bulls killed each
year in Spain is not 5.000 but 50.000 or more.

For the Animals
Maria Lopes
Coordinator
www.2kat.net/iwab

alcalde at mail.bcn.es;jportabella at mail.bcn.es;
moranich at mail.bcn.es;imayol at mail.bcn.es;gruppsc at mail.bcn.es;
gruperc at mail.bcn.es;grupicv at mail.bcn.es;grupciu at mail.bcn.es;
bi at mail.bcn.es;fmascarell at mail.bcn.es;infoicub at mail.bcn.es;
opinio at gencat.net;president at gencat.net;
consellerencap.presidencia at gencat.net;
conselleria.drip at gencat.net;conselleramieras at gencat.net;
consellet.ctc at gencat.net;consellermila at gencat.net;
portaveu.govern at gencat.net;psc at psc.es;gpc.ciu at convergencia.org;
fedbcn at esquerra.org;iniciativa at icv.org;futbcn2004 at yahoo.es;
ernest.benach at parlament-cat.net;gsoc-cpc at parlament-cat.es;
gruperc at parlament-cat.es;grupicv-ea at parlament-cat.net;
grupciu at parlament-cat.es;grupppo at parlament-cat.es


Barcelona sees red in bullfight backlash

BEN MCCONVILLE


DEPENDING on your point of view, it is a noble tradition that exemplifies
the colour and vigour of Spanish culture or a horrific and backward
expression of incomprehensible cruelty.

The macho spectacle of bullfighting has long been an integral part of
Spanish life, with the image of a colourfully dressed matador baiting a
bleeding bull being one the whole world associates with the Mediterranean
country.

But now a potent combination of the animal rights lobby, political
correctness and fierce separatist sentiments is threatening to end the
practice in Spain’s second largest city as Barcelona’s ruling body prepares
to vote on the future of the corridas de toro.

And it is expected that the city will use this opportunity not only to
accentuate its cultural and political independence from the rest of Spain,
but show its southern neighbours that becoming one of Europe’s most
cosmopolitan destinations cannot be fully achieved without ridding it of a
practice condemned by so many.

Last week, turning public opinion in Barcelona against bullfighting was
reflected in a petition to the city’s mayor which carried 250,000 signatures
and immediately prompted Joan Clos to announce there would be a vote on
whether or not to ban it on April 6 - a speedy response which surprised no
one more than the protesters.

Although there are still supporters of bullfighting, only the Monumental
bullring now holds fights in the Catalan capital. The others have been
redeveloped, with British architect Richard Rogers turning one into a
leisure centre. Around Catalonia only four arenas still hold fights.

Even in the south of Spain in cities such as the capital, Madrid,
attendances at bullfights are waning, and even those who go are mostly
curious tourists who want to find out for themselves whether author Ernest
Hemingway’s obsession with a ritual of "spiritual intensity" was justified.

Jordi Marti, a Barcelona deputy in Spain’s National Congress and the arts
and culture spokesman for the Catalan Nationalist party, said Catalonia had
led the way with animal protection laws, and it was "only a question of
time - of social evolution" before bullfighting was stopped.

But there are still supporters of the bullfight in the city. The Catalan
Bullfighting Federation attacked the campaigners as "ill-informed".

Federation spokesman German Jimenez told Scotland on Sunday: "Bullfighting
is an art form and a vital part of our history and culture, and gives jobs
to thousands of people." A ban would mean caving in to "ignorant" and
excessively delicate modern sensibilities about animal welfare, he said.
Jimenez drew comparisons with the fox-hunting bans in the UK and warned that
the prospect of a ban could bring thousands of bullfighting supporters out
on to the streets in protest.

"This is a way of life, this is the essence of being Spanish. We will do
everything we can to defend our culture," he said.

But opponents of bullfighting argue that the slaughter of more than 100
bulls a year in the city for public entertainment is anachronistic and
incompatible with Barcelona’s ambition to become one of the world’s leading
cities for arts and culture. Across Spain each year more than 5,000 bulls
die in about 400 bullrings.

Animal welfare campaigners want the spectacle banned by the end of this year
because they say that it will taint the 2004 Universal Forum of Culture - a
Unesco festival that Barcelona is hosting.

Bullfighting has already been stopped in several Catalonian towns, and in
June the regional parliament became the first in Spain to ban children under
14 from attending corridas de toro.

Some provincial towns, such as Olot, have imposed outright bans on the
activity.

It is tourism on the Costa Brava which continues to support much of what’s
left of Catalonia’s organised bullfighting, although the Catalans are not
entirely revolted by bullfighting, and it is possible to see highlights on
television or to come across small-scale fights as part of a village’s
fiesta celebrations.

However, typical of the attitude in Barcelona is that of opponent and
resident Raul Real. He said: "The cruelty involved is unnecessary, and there
are other ways of showing that you are a man apart from killing an animal."

Opponents of bullfighting are protesting not only because of the "cruelty"
of the sport but also as part of their campaign for independence from
Madrid.

Separatists see bullfighting as a cultural and ethnic marker to distinguish
Catalonia from the rest of Spain. A spokesman for the Catalan National party
said: "Bullfighting is unsophisticated and brutal. It is not something that
should be tolerated in a modern society."

Animal rights campaigners recently produced a poll which claimed that 63% of
Barcelona’s population wanted bullfighting to end.

More than half, 55%, agreed the city

should declare itself anti-bullfighting, particularly in view of the fact
that it is to host the 2004 Universal Forum for Culture.

"At the end of the 19th century there were three bullrings in Barcelona, now
there is just one left, but mostly for people who come in tourist buses from
the Costa Brava," said Manuel Cases, of the Asociacion Defensa Derechos
Animal.

A spokesman for the World Society for the Protection of Animals - which
organised last week’s petition - said: "Bullfighting is abhorrent to many
people internationally. This survey showed that the majority of people in
Barcelona agree bullfighting has nothing to do with culture and everything
to do with cruelty.

"This is a major victory for the campaign. This historic vote could see the
end of this cruel practice in a major part of Spain."

FOR ART'S SAKE

IS IT a cruel spectacle, a sport or an art form? Whatever the answer, rebels
from the literary and film worlds of art and entertainment to bullfighting’s
bloody call.

Ernest Hemingway had a lifelong love affair with bullfighting and wrote
evocatively of its "spiritual intensity".

The American author saw bullfighting as a richly choreographed ballet led by
a proud, elegant matador. He loved it so much he moved to Spain and fought
with anti-Franco forces around the Andalucian town of Ronda.

In the 1950s Ava Gardner, below, left Frank Sinatra to live in Ronda, the
cradle of bullfighting, with her matador lover.

Orson Welles regularly attended bullfights and feted the local matadors. He
is buried in the clifftop town.

James Joyce also visited southern Spain and described the area and its
bullfights in his novel Ulysses.
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