Is Bullfighting on the Way Out?

A governmental debate over the banning of bullfighting is underway in Catalonia, the northeast region of Spain.  180,000 citizens signed a petition pressing for the sport to be outlawed, and some think this could be achieved in the region as soon as November.  The blogosphere is atwitter about this prospect (but the twittersphere is agog!  Words!), taking this news to mean “Spain is edging ever closer to banning the sport.”  They’re wrong, though.  Here’s why.

An oft-cited poll puts Spanish interest in bullfighting at less than 30% of the population.  Well, for a comparison to American sports interest, 40% of this country call themselves basketball fans – and that’s college as well as pro.  This is our third most popular sport.  Bullfighting is Spain’s second most popular, after futbol.

Furthermore – and more importantly – bullfighting is a regional thing in Spain, like NASCAR or hockey here.  Catalonia is in the north, where interest is lowest.  Yet:

In 2004, the Barcelona city council [Barcelona is in Catalonia] approved a declaration expressing opposition to bullfights, but about 125,000 people nevertheless attended corridas in its Monumental bullring in 2008.

Bullfights featuring star matador Jose Tomas, for instance, are sold out weeks in advance, Catalan bullfighting professionals’ representative Jose Segura said.

So nearly as many spectators visited the bullring in Barcelona alone as signed the petition in the whole Catalan region.

In Andalucia, Spain’s southernmost province and historically the stronghold of bullfighting, ticket sales seem to be on the rise if anything.  There are 70 bullrings, and the number of fights held between 2006 and 2007 rose 22%.  Sevilla, the capital city, had a record 11 sellout fights in 2007.

And of course, don’t forget the type of people on each side of this debate.  Against bullfighting: most of the world and Spain’s bleeding heart hippies.  For bullfighting: people who fight deadly animals and people who hunger to watch man and beast get raw in the arena.  As the Catalan bullfighting representative put it:

Bullfighting enthusiasts would ‘defend the fiesta until death,’ Segura vowed.

Yes, you sign your flimsy petitions, WE LAY DOWN OUR LIVES.  OLE!!

Source: Monsters and Critics.