CBC (Canuck) TV has been carrying a series on the decline of bullfighting in Spain - how even now a majority of Spaniards they said are becoming to oppose this bloody tradition.
Arenas are half empty - Spanish TV has removed wide-spread coverage and folks in Catalonia are even expected to within weeks pass a resolution banning bullfighting in that province (Barcelona area)
Very telling to me was one videa of fans looking at the final kill of the bull when the blood often gushes out of its mouth - a young boy simply covered his eyes and shook his head.

Corridas, often sponsored by governments, are said to down by about half - Spain's putrid economy playing a part in this as well as in the precipitous attendance decline.

Bullfighting days in Spain seem to be numbered and i for one will be so so happy when this animal abuse and torture ends.

So if in Spain you want to see this macho spectacle do so soon.

Vive les toros!

Hi Pal,

>Curtains for Bullfighting in Spain?<

I don't see why you would want curtains for a bullfight. Wouldn't that block the spectator's view?

OTOH, for those who are squeamish about killing the bull, the curtains could be drawn just before the end.

trivializing animal torture, ira - good show!

It's not bull fighting - it's just bull killing. the only way it would be bull-fighting is if you had the same death rate among the matadors as among the bulls.

I hope they ban it in the entire country.

Agreed! It's a horrible "sport". Although I don't see the sport in such an evil act.

I’m glad that this barbaric custom may be coming to an end.

A question – is bullfighting becoming less popular for reasons of animal cruelty, or is it because it is financially unviable. I’d be interested to know – this is not seeing any coverage in Australia.

Are you all vegans? Do you eat industrially raised and killed cows and chickens? A bullfight is a much less cruel way to go than what most cows go though in slaughterhouses.

I am not a vegan or a vegetarian, and I dispute your view of bullfighting being a kinder way to kill an animal than a slaughterhouse.
How can torturing an animal with spears and chasing it to exhaustion before being finally dispatched be kinder than stunning and a throat cutting?

If it were a real fight then the bull would win and he never does.

Bullfighting has traditionally had a low standing in Catalunya, and now the resistance is more articulate and stronger than ever. The Catalan parliament will decide next week whether to ban bullfighting in the region from 2012. I nevertheless think it's a bit early to announce the curtain fall for bullfighting in Spain. 2000 corridas each year, a 1,5-billion € "business" involving some 200 000 people. The best matadors are still national celebrities.

The Corrida is not a "fight" between man and bull, although the misleading english word bullfighting might suggest so. It's a ritual whith given procedures and a given end.

There is a difference between killing an animal for food (unpleasant but necessary)and celebrating the killing of it via a public spectacle that glorifies the process and pretends that the matadors are brave opponents of a dangerous animal.

The poor bull has no choice, the matadors are well-paid (IMHO murderers) and in danger only from their own incompetence.

a bit early to announce the curtain fall for bullfighting in Spain. 2000 corridas each year, a 1,5-billion € "business" involving some 200 000 people.>

But if the CBC show was right these figures are about half of what they were - if they are recent figures - the show cited a precipitous decline in local authorities funding Corridas this year, mainly due to the severe economic climate, a reason attendance, they said, is also seriously down.

Anyway the scenario for bullfighting's inevitable end is there and in 20 years or so bullfighting will live on in Spain IMO only in bullfighting museums. The Spanish will sooner or late outlaw it just like dog fighting (Ok legal in Louisiana i guess) and lion-tiger fights in the Coloseum.

Wrong. Dogfighting is a felony in ALL 50 states, including Louisiana. In Louisiana, even being a spectator is a felony (that is a misdemeanor in some states).

Some groups in catalonia are trying to ban everything spanish from that region (banner, anthem, language, etc.). Bullfighting would not be less. It is not that they pity the animal, it is something different.