Yesterday, the autonomous Parlament de Catalunya in Barcelona approved with 68 against 55 votes (and 9 abstentions) a move to disallow bullfights. The new law will come into effect from 2012 and will only be valid in Cataluña. After the Canary Islands, Cataluña is now the second province in Spain that has declared an end to corridas, bullfights and novilladas. The hearts of Spanish bullfights and bull runs (Madrid, Andalucía and Pamplona) will not be affected by the new legislation.

In my opinion, the new ruling is not really only a vote taken in favour of the toros in question, protecting animals rights. Catalunya has never really been the greatest of fans of tauromania and its related emotions. In Cataluña, it is felt that bullfights are really a passion of centrist Spain and were imposed by Madrid on a culture that sees itself rather represented by the donkey, and not the bull. The ruling has to be seen in the light of the Catalonian constitution that only a week ago was partially rebuffed by the Supreme Court in Madrid. The Barcelona ruling might have been a message to the Spanish nation that Cataluña wants to do things their own way and not always follow the lead from Madrid, sometimes even in an independent spirit.

In the long run, the Catalonian ruling may have repercussions here in the Baleares as well. I would guess, however, that here such a ruling might still be a few years away but, it will come sooner or later.

The Mallorcan town of Inca will stage a bullfight next Sunday, August 1st, at 18h30. Toreros will be Juan Serrano ‘El Finito de Córdoba‘, Manuel Díaz ‘El Cordobés‘ and Miguel Abellán. The occasion is the Fiestas de San Abdon y San Senén. The date will be the centennial anniversary of the inauguration of the Plaza de Toros de Inca (see photo below). Tickets are on sale from 30 € to 45 € (sol) and from 40 € to 95 € (sombra). I expect that there will be some anti-bullfight demonstrations, as well.

The photo (top) was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: July 20th, 2010. The time was 10:29:07. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet. Thanks are due to diariodemallorca.es.

Muchas gracias.