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Spain's Catalonia bids farewell to bullfighting

World Sep. 26, 2011 - 10:09AM JST ( 20 )

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20 Comments

4

smithinjapanSep. 26, 2011 - 12:52PM JST

Regardless of whether the reason is first and foremost animal safety or not, good riddance to this age-old and outdated custom.
-2

TheQuestionSep. 26, 2011 - 01:09PM JST

Bah, the fighting rings in the south are better anyway. Barcelona is expensive and there were always protesters whenever I went, the rings in the Andalusia area are more festive and there’s no activists to wade through.
2

cleoSep. 26, 2011 - 01:27PM JST

Catalan bullfighter Serafin Marin closed the fight killing the last of six bulls to great applause.....flaming balls of wax or fireworks are attached to the horns of bulls which are then taunted and teased

What is it some people have about torturing and killing animals for entertainment? Sickening, disgusting, pathetic little lowlifes. There's nothing 'brave' about a man with a sword and dressed in a poncy sequinned suit hurting and killing an animal that has already been rendered helpless and virtually brought to its knees through pain and loss of blood after being repeatedly stabbed by a gang of apprentice sequinned hoodlums.

If a teenage boy did anything similar to a dog or kitten or a frog he'd rightly be sent for psychiatric assessment. The ponces in the ring and the cheering howling mob in the audience are all seriously sick.
3

Al StewartSep. 26, 2011 - 02:15PM JST

This was a huge cultural icon of Spain, I am amazed that it is gone.
2

akkk1Sep. 26, 2011 - 02:58PM JST

good riddance to a Spanish cultural heritage of torturing animals.
1

MadvertsSep. 26, 2011 - 08:15PM JST

Spain hasn't banned it, Catelonia has.
0

presto345Sep. 26, 2011 - 08:23PM JST

In my book attacking, torturing and killing defenseless creatures, whether they are women, children, the weak or animals constitute and act of cowardice. There is nothing heroic about it. But here you can see that tradition and cultural heritage can shape a nation's identity. It does not rhyme with the love and care [Spanish] people bestow on their pet dogs, cats, etc. This irrationality with a medieval tint is now being corrected.
2

YuriOtaniSep. 26, 2011 - 08:50PM JST

Goodbye to a sick tradition
-2

lostrune2Sep. 26, 2011 - 09:10PM JST

This is more about economics. Bullfighting is funded by public funds. The bankrupt cities just can't afford to fund it anymore. Leave it to private entrepreneurship.
-2

GurukunSep. 26, 2011 - 11:10PM JST

Whew!.... The "New Generation of Politically Corrrect" people trying to fix the world and force thier beliefs down the throats of various countries with the beliefs that they were brought up on from thier own countries. Pretty sad.
-2

John BeckerSep. 27, 2011 - 02:50AM JST

Sure, it's a silly pursuit. So are many other things that go back hundreds of years. But if you take the picadors, swords and coups de grace out of the equation, it seems harmless enough. Fight the bull to a standstill armed with nothing but a cape.

@presto345: I get what you're saying. But "defenseless creatures" doesn't ring true for bulls, as evidenced by the long list of matadors who have been killed or maimed in the ring. They're not fighting kittens out there.
-3

MadvertsSep. 27, 2011 - 03:54AM JST

I agree, it's hardly the cowardly, ladida "sport" of fox hunting, the matadors risk their lives against a magnificent beast in fury.

I breed dogs and care for my animals, but bull-fighting is well down the list of man's inhumanity to beast.....there are how many events on the calender?
0

FadamorSep. 27, 2011 - 05:07AM JST

The goal of a bullfight is to kill the bull... but not before his ability to defend himself has been disabled due to slashed neck muscles. Once the bull's actions no longer really threaten the matador, THEN the bull is killed. This ranks right up there with dog and chicken fiighting as a "sport". Glad to see it is on its way out.
1

YuriOtaniSep. 27, 2011 - 06:02AM JST

What you all forget is the bulls are doomed from the start. They are going to die and in a bloody painful way. The bulls die in terror, it should go away in the entire Spanish nation and world.
0

cleoSep. 27, 2011 - 07:31AM JST

it's a silly pursuit

No, it is not a 'silly' pursuit. Putting a red nose on your face and sticking your tongue out is 'silly'. Tormenting and torturing an animal until it can hardly stand is not 'silly', it's despicable and sick.

But if you take the picadors, swords and coups de grace out of the equation...

You would not find a matador willing to step in the ring. No bull was ever killed by anyone armed with 'nothing but a cape'.

the long list of matadors who have been killed or maimed in the ring

Not long enough. Live by the sword (and spears and gang of men to do most of the dirty work for you), die by the horn. Nowt but justice.
1

GurukunSep. 27, 2011 - 08:06AM JST

Tormenting and torturing an animal until it can hardly stand is not 'silly', it's despicable and sick.

Like I said, everybody trying to change everybody based on thier own beliefs. If it's despicable and sick, why are there masses that enjoy Bull Fighting in Spain? I've also mentioned on a different thread that I kill fish by biting on it's head to kill it when I'm out fishing or spearfishing. (Old Polynesian way to kill the fish). Because this may be sick and despicable to you, I need to change my ways?
1
cleoSep. 27, 2011 - 09:15AM JST

If it's despicable and sick, why are there masses that enjoy Bull Fighting in Spain?

Because there are masses of despicable, sick people in Spain?

Gurukun, if you kill your fish as quickly and painlessly (for the fish) as possible, I have no argument with you. If you make a spectacle out of tormenting and torturing it for fun until it dies a slow, painful death and then you tell everyone how wonderful and brave you are, then yes you're one with the sickos in Spain.
- ModeratorSep. 27, 2011 - 09:46AM JST
  
  Readers, please stay on topic. The subject is bullfighting, not fish.
0

GurukunSep. 27, 2011 - 09:54AM JST

Because there are masses of despicable, sick people in Spain?

Are you saying that just because these people enjoy thier traditions, that are obviously not the same as the traditions you were brought up to enjoy, all of them are 'sickos?' Sounds kind of stereotypical to me.

cleo, don't get me wrong, I understand the arguement about animal cruelty, but why is the place of "outsiders" to decide on traditions of other countries? Who justifies what exactly what cruel is for the entire world?

As for the bull fighters, it's the fans that place them on pedestal for being 'brave and wonderful"
0

cleoSep. 27, 2011 - 11:00AM JST

Who justifies what exactly what cruel is for the entire world?

Nobody decides 'for the entire world'. Here, I'm giving my opinion. Someone, anyone, who takes pleasure in someone or something else's pain and suffering is, in my book, a sicko.

why is the place of "outsiders" to decide on traditions of other countries?

I think you'll find bullfighting in Catalonia was banned as a result of domestic pressure, including a local petition and a free vote in the local parliament, not as a result of outside pressure. Though if the bloody spectacle encouraged people 'brought up to enjoy other traditions' to stay away and spend their tourist euros in a gentler, more civilised atmosphere, that may also give the local population cause to pause and think.

As for the bull fighters, it's the fans that place them on pedestal for being 'brave and wonderful"

The fans are even sicker than the matadors. At least the matadors have the (feeble) excuse that it's their livelihood. But the ones who pay good money to see it? Sick, sick, sick.