AR-News: (Germany) Barcelona Challenges a Spanish Tradition

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Barcelona Challenges a Spanish Tradition 

The future is unclear for bullfighting 


 
The bullfighting season has kicked off, but the end of the "Corrida" could be 
nearer than many think. This week, Barcelona became the first city in Spain 
to officially oppose the bloody sport. But no ban is in sight.

As recently as January, bullfighting in Spain was the subject of an academic 
honor when the University of Cordoba in southern Spain begin offering a degree 
program in the artistry-filled sport. But not everyone in the country shared 
the city's enthusiasm for the sport: This week, politicians in Barcelona 
brandished their own capotes and swords, and took aim at bullfighting, a popular, 
albeit bloody, national pastime.
With a vote of 21-15 and two abstentions, Barcelona's city council voted on 
Tuesday following a heated debate in support of a non-binding resolution that, 
although stopping short of banning the fights, condemns bullfights and defines 
cattle as beings that are "sensitive both mentally and physically." 
With the resolution, Spain's second-largest city after Madrid has declared 
itself an "anti-bullfighting city." The vote angered fans of the centuries-old 
tradition, while drawing praise from animal rights activists, who declared it 
the "beginning of the end of this bloody spectacle."
Heated debate
The city council of Barcelona itself does not have the authority to ban 
bullfighting -- such a move would require a change of the laws of the Catalonian 
government and a vote in the regional parliament. But the vote does carry strong 
symbolic weight because Catalonia is ruled by the same socialist party as 
Barcelona. The city's socialist mayor said he was convinced that "bullfighting 
will disappear in the longterm."
Tensions threatened to boil over at many points in the debate over the 
resolution. "Bullfighting is a celebration of our culture that has been denigrated 
by the Germans and the Anglo-Saxons," sighed Javier Basso, a member of the city 
council and the conservative People's Party (PP) of outgoing Prime Minister 
José María Aznar. He described bullfighting as a "noble dance between bull and 
man." Editorialists at many Spanish newspapers criticized the vote, saying it 
evoked the time of dictator rule under Franco. Members of the People's Party 
said they would oppose any ban, and the Socialist Party remains divided over 
the resolution. The issue became so heated that the vote was held secretly. 
"Steers share emotions with humans"





full story:

http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1433_A_1166858_1_A,00.html 
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