A few days ago the country that houses the largest bullfighting arena in the world, announced that bullfights have ended. We are talking about Mexico, a country whose strong tradition has given life and light to thousands of shows. In this case, the Justice has considered that the “degrading” treatment of animals violates several rights. In Spain, the situation seems to go the same way while a PP increasingly weakened in this field tries to defend the bullfighting culture as best it can. Will our country follow the same fate as Plaza México?
The show must NOT go on.
Mexico locks. In the sentence, the federal judge in Mexico City listed all the emotional and physical damage that the bulls experience during these activities. That is, “excessive and agonizing pain that culminates in death from severe hemorrhaging or respiratory arrest.” And of course, the city has ended up conceding the definitive suspension of its mythical bullring and paralyzed all related activities.
Why? The judge has said plain and simple that it is nothing more than a recreational activity in which an animal is injured, tortured and killed. And he argued the following: “Society is interested in respecting the physical and emotional integrity of all animals because they are living beings that make up ecosystems and there is an intrinsic value that they have as sentient beings.”
In fact, the country is increasingly aligned in this sense, since the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation also discusses the decree of the Nayarit Congress of 2019 that declared bullfighting as intangible cultural heritage and now opts to protect the bull.
The situation in Spain. Yes, the roots of the bullfighting culture in dozens of Spanish regions is undeniable. You only need to see the San Fermín Festival and how the streets of Pamplona are filled with thousands of people from all over the world. But the truth is that in recent years, the number of shows has decreased considerably. Between 2012 and 2021 bullfights fell by around 40%. And more and more people want its ban.
Currently, the annual number of celebrations in bullrings is 824, that of bullfights is 279 and the number of bullfighters with valid licenses is 461. Although the pandemic has been a trigger, this industry was already experiencing a crisis with a fall of 61% of the shows in the last 12 years, according to an analysis by AVATMA.
Anti-bullfighting movements. In 2013, bullfighting was declared Cultural Heritage of Spain by the Senate. Of course, he only had the support of the Popular Party. This rule obliges public administrations to “guarantee and develop promotion measures”. However, not all communities support bullfighting. In fact, movements in favor of animal rights have been growing and have managed to stop celebrating them in certain places in Spain.
Banned in some places. The Canary Islands, for example, is the only autonomous community in which bullfights are not carried out by law. In 1991, a law was passed that prohibits “using animals in fights, parties and shows that involve mistreatment, cruelty or suffering.” Catalonia followed a similar path in 2010: the Parliament approved the abolition of bullfighting. However, in 2016, the Constitutional Court annulled this prohibition, considering that bullfighting is the responsibility of the State.
In Galicia, the anti-bullfighting movement is growing and right now the Pontevedra fair is the only one that continues to be held. In 2015, Palma de Mallorca wanted to legislate and prevent these events from being held. The municipal government approved a motion to declare itself an anti-bullfighting city, although it could not prohibit bullfights because the license is autonomous.
Ayuso says that it is “the art of living”. The president of the Community of Madrid pointed out in a recent speech that each bull that goes out into the bullring is “a metaphor for life” and defended this practice as a “symbol of Hispanic identity and coexistence”, defending that Madrid is the capital of the bull . The PP has been promoting the activity for years. In Andalusia, for example, the popular ones raise facing the elections to elaborate a Bullfighting Law to “guarantee its maintenance and growth”.
In other parts of the country, bullfighting defenders were confronting the mayor of Gijón, Ana González, who had decided not to extend the concession of the El Bibio bullring, putting an end to the Begoña Bullfighting Fair. Well, hours later the mayor of Santander, Gema Igual, said that her city would offer free buses to Gijons who go to the bullfights in her city. This is the scenario right now.
The cost of bullfighting. To all the mess we must add not only how much bullfighting contributes, economically speaking, but what is invested in it. The Ministry of Culture detailed that only two budget items are allocated to this discipline: €30,000 for the National Bullfighting Award, and another €35,000 as a grant to the Fundación del Toro de Lidia. However, in a recent article in El Español, it was detailed that in Madrid alone Ayuso spent 15,827,652 euros between 2020 and 2021, in addition to another 7.5 million for 2022.
In the same article, the Andalusian case was investigated and they concluded that an exceptional grant is awarded there to the Andalusian Association of Pedro Romero Bullfighting Schools of 230,000 euros, in addition to the €172,500 that they give to the Fundación Toro de Lidia. In Extremadura more of the same: 86,000 euros for bullfighting.
Image: Omar Barcena (Flickr)