Spanish region says adios to bullfighting

WAP via WP ^ | July 28, 2010 | JOSEPH WILSON and DANIEL WOOLLS

[Daffynition]

BARCELONA, Spain -- Lawmakers in Catalonia outlawed bullfighting Wednesday, making it Spain's first major region to ban the deadly, centuries-old ballet between matador and beast after heated debate that pitted animal rights against a pillar of traditional culture.

Cheers broke out in the local 135-seat legislature after the speaker announced the ban had passed 68-to-55 with nine abstentions. The ban will take effect in 2012 in the northeastern coastal region whose capital is Barcelona.

Catalonia is a powerful, wealthy area with its own language and culture and a large degree of self-rule. Many in Spain have seen the pressure here for a bullfighting ban as a further bid by Catalonia to stand out from the rest of the country.

[Daffynition]

Someone is gonna be gored.

[agere_contra]

What’s the abortion rate in Catalonia?

Because if it’s greater than zero, they just marked themselves out as world-class hypocrites.

[SumProVita]

¡Estúpido!

[LongElegantLegs]

But what does Stephen Maturin have to say about all this?

[KarlInOhio]

At least in the bull ring the bull has a chance to win. Those sent to the butcher directly don't have that chance.

[PowderMonkey]

"Homage to Catalonia"...during a visit there some years ago, I arrived in that region after staying in Madrid. My first night in a local restaurant I ordered a meal in Castillian Spanish, and was severely chastised by a snooty waiter, "Sir. You are not in Spain. You are in Cataluna. Here we DO NOT speak Spanish. We speak Catalan." Having later told my Castillian mother of the encounter, she replied, "The Catalan. They do not speak. They bark."

[bruin66]

I thought bullfighting in Spain didn’t involve maiming/killing of the bull.

[Daffynition]

[Daffynition]

Getting into a ring w/ a raging bull takes a certain amount of stoopid and b@lls.

[Daffynition]

Unless you're vegan. ;)

[rahbert]

I believe that is the Portuguese who don’t kill the bull.

They have Portuguese style bullfights in Gilroy or used to.

[Daffynition]

Great story! So your Castilian "Lisp" wasn't cool enough! ;)

[Daffynition]

I dunno the answer.

[PowderMonkey]

In Spain, the bull dies...and sometimes it’s the Matador who dies. On rare occasions, when a particular bull displays an unusual amount of aggression, courage, and tenacity in the ring, he is spared and immediately retired to a ranch to make lots of little bulls just like himself.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Daffynition. Bullfighting has a long history in Eurasia, but it's (obviously) indelibly associated with Spain. Franco kept the various strongly culturally segregated groups under central rule in part by having regional and ethnic soccer teams.

in the local 135-seat legislature.. the ban had passed 68-to-55 with nine abstentions... will take effect in 2012... Catalonia is a powerful, wealthy area with its own language and culture and a large degree of self-rule.

This could *almost* be a GGG topic...

[bigheadfred]

It really could be GGG. Lots more ancient relevant connections. Minotaur, Apis, Zeus, Shiva’s steed, The Golden Calf. It goeth on.

As a more modern type person I can see the decline and the proclivity to it’s (cultered) demise. But in a more historical sense, one has to ask. Where are your children???

Nice little research project, Civ. Thanks for the ping.

[Castlebar]

I wish to heaven that every one of the novels could be made into a film. I for one would see very one of them opening night, full price. They (the novels) are like crack cocaine (I guess - haven’t tried crack myself.)

[Daffynition]

Some of Hemingway’s short stories also have been transformed to the screen. The early version of “The Killers,” in which Burt Lancaster made his screen debut, was Hemingway’s favorite adaptation. (The later version starred Ronald Reagan in his last movie role.)