Ban on bullfighting in Catalonia

Bullfighting was banned in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia by a vote of the Catalan Parliament in July 2010. The ban came into effect on 1 January 2012. The last bullfight in the region took place in Barcelona in September 2011.

The ban, which ended a centuries-old tradition in the region, was supported by animal rights activists but opposed by some, who saw it as motivated by political nationalism rather than animal welfare.

There is a movement to revoke the ban in the Spanish congress, citing the value of bullfighting as "cultural heritage." The proposal is backed by the majority of parliamentarians. The ban was officially annulled for being unconstitutional by Spain's highest court on 5 October 2016.[6]

The earliest recorded fight in Catalonia took place in 1387, although, as elsewhere in Spain, it was not until the early 19th century that bullfighting in the region took its form as a modern spectator sport. By the early 20th century, it had become one of the major entertainment attractions in Catalonia. The region still preserves some of the oldest bullrings in Spain, such as the Plaça Clarà in Olot (built in 1859), and the bullring in Figueres (1894). The 1897 bullring in Girona was demolished in 2006.

The sport declined in popularity in recent decades. By 2011, the only operating bullring in Catalonia was La Monumental in Barcelona, where 20 fights were organized in 2009. This compares to 284 fights organized in the Community of Madrid (with a similar population to Catalonia). Nine fights were organized between April and July 2010. Organizers say that average attendance is around 7,000 people, of whom 400 are season ticket holders.

A ban on bullfighting in Catalonia was approved by the Catalan Parliament on 28 July 2010, following a petition (or Popular Legislative Initiative, PLI) organised by the PROU platform (Catalan for 'Enough!'). The petition attracted 180,000 signatures. The parliamentary vote was 68 votes for and 55 against, with 9 abstentions. Catalonia became the second autonomous community in Spain to ban bullfighting after the Canary Islands did so in 1991. The ban came into force on 1 January 2012. Bullfights by matadors were banned in Catalonia at the end 2011 but bull-dodging, in which bulls are not killed, remains lawful. The last bullfight in Catalonia took place on 25 September 2011 at La Monumental.

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