Spanish

This article compares bullfighting scenes in Spain with bullfights from the past. Until recently, fighting bulls were bred on the extensive lands of the grand or lesser aristocracy, whose motive commonly was not profit but pride, an expression of a way of life and expertise. Abuses have multiplied, given the proliferation of bullfights throughout Spain in the past ten years and the profits now to be gained from bulls. Formerly, bullfighting belonged to the pueblo (people, village, land), and even the most citified Spaniard formerly returned annually to his village to witness the celebration of its saint's day in a bullfight and in homage to his rural roots. Entrance into the European Community brought high prices, inflation, and demands in the European parliament for the abandonment of the abomination of bullfighting in Spain.

The highway signs - capricious hints at best -become even more confusing the moment you enter the Autonomous Community of Catalonia due to the insistence of listing place names in both official languages of the region. The bullfight came on as a diversion as people moved from the country to the cities. elena de La Souchere explained that the purpose the bullfight as spectacle is no different to the deadly arena events of antiquity: bread and circuses for the masses, somewhat similar to the NFL today.

Although the bullfight as a public spectacle extends throughout southwestern Europe and much of Latin America, it attains greatest political, cultural, and symbolic salience in Spain. Yet within Spain today, the bullfight has come under serious attack, from at least three sources: (1) Catalan nationalists, (2) Spaniards who identify with the new Europe, and (3) increasingly vocal animal rights advocates. This article explores the current debate--cultural, political, and ethical--on bulls and bullfighting within the Spanish state, and explores the sources of recent controversy on this issue.

"The running of the bulls is what everyone knows about Pamplona [Spain]....Every year from July 6 to 14, [the city] is inundated by a kind of storm surge of revelers....Pamplonans who can't take it pack up and leave town. Still, there are many who stay, and not because they have to....In fact, if you filter out the foreigners and focus on the locals, you discover a fiesta that's hidden in plain view: laughing children, tranquil grandparents, groups of various ages sharing a happiness that has nothing to do with drinking themselves senseless, sleeping on the grass or running with the bulls." (Smithsonian) The significance of the festival of San Fermin to locals in Pamplona, Spain, is examined. Reasons the festival "may be the most famous and most misunderstood public party in the world" are noted.

"About 1.6 million people are expected to visit Pamplona [Spain] during the eight days of the San Fermin Fiesta. The event started Friday [July 7, 2000]. The runs, or 'encierros,' draw thousands of people testing their bravery and speed by running with the bulls. The centuries-old festival, which features a nonstop street party, became internationally famous following the 1926 publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel 'The Sun Also Rises.' Overcrowding has made the runs extremely dangerous. Since record-keeping began in 1924, 13 runners have died and more than 200 have been injured." (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Bull running at the San Fermin Festival is briefly described.

"Lawmakers in the semi-autonomous Catalonia region voted Wednesday (July 25, 2010) to ban bullfighting, dealing the most significant blow so far to a tradition considered by many Spaniards to be an essential part of their cultural heritage. The ban, the first in mainland Spain, was hailed as a major victory by animal welfare groups that have long crusaded against what they consider a barbaric and outdated practice." (International Herald Tribune) This article discusses the move by Catalonian officials in Spain to ban bullfighting in the state. Details of the victory for animals and animal rights activists alike are provided.

Last year, three horses died in a chuckwagon race on July 12th and Stampede organizers once again came under fire from protesters who view the "chucks" as barbaric and inhumane. (Since 1986, more than 50 chuckwagon horses have died during Stampede events, as have two cowboys.) A recent Spanish anti-bullfighting campaign with the slogan "La Tortura no es cultura" ("Torture is not culture") may remind some of protesters' signs outside the Stampede grounds reading, "Tradition is no excuse for abuse." There are Spanish government subsidies for ranchers who raise fighting bulls, and the Spanish parliament has recently been debating a law that would make bullfighting a protected cultural heritage, clearing the way for more public funding.

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My name is Gerry. I live in Southern Spain with my wife Kirsty. Originally I'm from a town called Warrington in the north-west of England. In 1981 I went to Lancaster University and graduated in Economics.

After some time travelling in Australia I went To Bristol University and obtained a postgraduate teacher training certificate in Economics and Business Studies which allowed me to move to Spain and take up my first post as an Economics teacher in Mallorca.

More details at http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/about/default.htm

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