Wednesday 28 July 2010

Great news from Spain


Catalonia bans bullfighting. The parliament of Catalonia has voted to ban bullfighting - the first region of mainland Spain to do so.

The vote took place as the result of a petition brought to parliament, signed by 180,000 people who say the practice is barbaric and outdated.

Bullfight supporters insist that the corrida, as it is known, is an important tradition to preserve.

They also fear the vote could be the first of many in the country. The ban takes effect in January 2012.

In Wednesday's vote, 68 backed a ban, 55 voted against and nine abstained.

Barcelona's main bullring is one of the oldest in Spain, but support for the bullfight has waned. The Barcelona bullring is the only functioning one in Catalonia.

The vote was brought to the agenda by activists who argue it is cruel and unacceptable and say most spectators in Catalonia these days are tourists. The campaign was led by the animal rights lobby group Prou! (Enough!).

Supporters says the corrida is an art form that it is vital to preserve.

The vote was close as the two main parties in parliament took the unusual step of allowing members to cast their ballots according to their conscience.

But while the official debate is over animal rights, many believe this process is an attempt by nationalist-minded Catalans to mark their difference from the rest of Spain by rejecting one of its best known traditions.

Pro-bullfighting groups fear that a ban could spark a wave of similar campaigns across the country. They argue that threatens the livelihood of thousands of people.

A bullfight typically lasts about 20 minutes, and the bull is stabbed numerous times before the fatal blow delivered with a sword thrust between its shoulder blades. BBC

Well done the Catalonians! The vile spectacle of bull fighting has no place in the civilized world. It is a ‘sport’ for depraved minds and in terms of sheer wanton brutality on innocent animals, it matches anything even the Muslims could conjure up. Tameside Citizen

21 comments:

I.O.O.B. said...

Are the brave fighters of Prou! or their heroic British equivalents going to do anything whatsoever about the utter atrocity of Halal slaughter? Thought not. Ethnic/cultural sensitivity is obviously more important to them than millions of fully conscious animals having their throats slit. What a load of gutless hypocrites.

Say no to Halal and Shechita said...

I notice Gwynne has a letter in this weeks Advertiser asking for a ban on animal experiments because of the cruelty involved. You can be guaranteed he will remain silent on the equally savage practice of religious ritual slaughter.

We are not Spainish. said...

In the 1990s I lived and worked in this part of Spain and I can tell you for a fact that this ban has more to do with sticking two fingers up to Spain and all things Spainish than it has to do with "animal cruelty".

tonydj said...

I am inclined to agree with the above three postings.

throw the handle said...

Anyone who can stab a bull like that deserves to be executed in the electric chair.

Kraven the Hunter said...

Stop 'moralising', the Spanish are a proud and patriotic people and have a right to pursue their own customs.
This sort of touchy feely squeamishness about killing other creatures is one of the key indicators of the increasing feminisation of society in general. Such a society cannot, and does not deserve to, survive. A properly governed 'killer' instinct is essential to survive in the animal kingdom, and like it or not we are animals. Being chronically oversensitive is not a sign of progress but of self-indulgence.

Cheshire Slasher said...

A bit of bloodlust is in all of us and should be controlled by the individual and the rules of society, but also maintained as it's an essential part of the nature of all animals.
Gratuitous cruelty to satiate warped and sadistic desires is a uniquely human characteristic and should be be eradicated. Bullfighting is just the right side of the borderline due to the potential extreme danger to the bullfighter evening the odds somewhat.

help, i've been mugged said...

Watch here to see how Communists have taken control of the West by stealth.

TC I KNOW WHO YOU ARE said...

Dear TC I said to you last year that I would find out who you were?

I nearly caught youlast year by confirming that you lived in South Stalybridge and this time You have slipped up. When I find you I intend to shake your hand nothing more nothing else
nonetheless I will find who you are it is only a matter of time you have made to many mistakes lol

Basil Beeley shuts ky up ... said...

BASIL BEELEY GAGS KY MARLAND AT STALYBRIDGE DA HA HA HA HA HA

Lancashire Lacerator said...

I'd love to go whale hunting but that doesn't make me a bad person.

Parliament: Backbone free zone said...

Gwynne should have kept his large, attention seeking, hypocritical mouth shut.
Animal experiments have got a purpose: to increase scientific knowledge and advance medical science in particular. Kosher slaughter is archaic, barbaric and utterly unnecessary mumbo jumbo. His decision which to condemn - in public - and which to keep quiet on show the sort of person he is.

Anonymous said...

stop harping on about animal cruelty and go and buy your factory farmed chicken from ASDA or a nice piece of farmed salmon and then reflect on your hypocrisy

I truly detest animal cruelty said...

Anyone who gains pleasure from the wilful torture of animals is, in my opinion, a potential serial killer. To those with feeble minds killing can become addictive. First they start with animals, then they progress to human beings.

If I had my way I would watch a bull fight if the animal tormentor tackled the bull with his bare hands. What the bull gains through having a larger physical presence, the tormentor would equal by having a larger brain. This would be fair match, but these cowardly psychopaths only play the game when the odds are heavily weighted in their favour.

Cheshire farmer said...

Stop harping on about factory farming. Properly run factory farms are proven to give animals far less stressful lives. They are fed, kept warm and sheltered, well treated and then humanely slaughtered.
The serial killer commentor requires a long rest in a rubber room. What are you on, or on about?

Kevin Welsh said...

Basil's a bloody good councillor and worth twenty Labour councillors.

Arnold Salt said...

If you TRULY detest it what's your view on religious slaughter?

Anonymous said...

"it matches anything even the Muslims could conjure up"

Did you think even 1/10 of a second before you wrote this?

JSY said...

What does the above comment mean?

Tameside Citizen said...

"it matches anything even the Muslims could conjure up"

I stand by this comment. Bullfighting, bear baiting, badger baiting, organised dog fighting etc are every bit as savage as the Muslim practice of torturing an animal to death as a sacrifice for ‘Allah’. If you want to see savagery in its most grotesque manifestation travel down to Wilmslow Road in a few weeks at the end of Ramadan when the Eid ‘festivities’ begin. You will see petrified sheep having their throats slashed as a hysterical mob chant and cheer at the spectacle as the helpless creature is sacrificed to Allah and becomes Halal. Where are the phoney PC animal rights brigade and the RSPCA when this abomination is taking place - yes, you guessed it - nowhere to be seen!

Vivisection yes, alien barbarism no said...

Hear hear. Andrew Gwynne's letter opposing animal experiments in the Advertiser shows him to be an utter hypocrite. He is chairman of the Labour Friends of Israel group, which no doubt supports Jews living in Britain practising the equally barbaric Kosher slaughter.