23 June 2006

BARCELONA — Catalonia's regional parliament backed on Friday a motion which could lead to a ban on bullfighting in the region.

Deputies in Catalonia's regional parliament voted by 75 to 51 votes in favour of a move which will put bullfighting under the same legal constraints which govern animal cruelty.

Bullfighting is currently exempt from this legislation.

Now the Catalan regional parliament will consider if the law should change.

"We want to change this anomaly and include bullfights within the law," said Oriol Amors, a spokesman for left-wing ERC party and a member of the Catalan parliament.

But it is seen as a means to assert Catalonia's independence from Madrid, the Spanish capital, where the sport is popular.

The amendment is aimed at only bullfighting and does not extend to other spectacles involving bulls such as "corre bou", where the public chase bulls through the streets and "bouembolat", which involves putting lighted fires on the bulls' horns.

Manuel Cases, the director of the animal protection group ADDA, which has spearheaded the campaign to abolish bullfights, said: "We have worked hard to show the government that the majority of the Catalan people don't want bullfights any more."

According to a survey conducted by the group, 71 per cent of Catalans are opposed to bullfights.

The minority who do support bullfighting condemn legislative moves towards a ban.

''It would be a cultural and intellectual loss if bullfights were banned," said Luis Corrales, the director of Defensa de la Fiesta, an organisation set up to protect and promote bullfighting.

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Subject: Spanish news