Barcelona votes to end bullfights - BBC 4/6/2004

[Guest guest]

Somehow I missed this one last year.

 

Anyone else remember Srila Prabhupada's early visit to Tittenhurst (is

that now Bhaktivedanta Manor?). He was visiting John Lennon and noticed

a bullfighting picture on the wall. "This is nonsense," Prabhupada

commented.

 

Can you believe that I was so covered with ignorance when I first read

that statement that it took me some years to figure out why he made that

remark? Okay, so you can...

 

Anyway, I think Prabhupada would appreciate the Barcelona move:

Barcelona is an anti-bullfighting city. Definitely a step in the right

direction.

 

ys

 

hkdd

 

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BBC NEWS: April 6, 2004

 

 

BARCELONA VOTES TO END BULLFIGHTS

 

Barcelona has voted to ban bullfighting, after a big campaign by animal

rights groups.

 

Nearly 250,000 people signed a petition calling for abolition in

Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the capital.

 

The regional government must now approve the ban, the first of its kind

in Spain, for it to become law.

 

Supporters of the sport, regarded by many as a national pastime, have

threatened to take to the streets in protest.

 

In a secret ballot, 21 councillors voted in favour, 15 against, with two

abstentions.

 

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HISTORIC PASTIME

* One of earliest references dates back to 200 BC in Andalusia

* Banned by Pope Pius V in 16th century

* Also popular in Portugal, southern France and Latin America

* Bulls are specially bred and colour-bind

* One of most memorable literary portrayals is in Ernest Hemingway's

Death in the Afternoon (1932)

 

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The motion states: Barcelona is an anti-bullfighting city.

 

The BBC's Danny Wood in Madrid says the vote reflects a feeling that

bullfighting is incompatible with Barcelona's image of a city famous for

art and architecture.

 

The aim also expresses a Catalan desire to forge an identity separate

from Madrid, he adds.

 

The vote has inflamed fans of the sport.

 

Apart from Madrid and Seville, no other city stages more bullfights.

 

About 100 bulls are killed each year in bullfights in Barcelona's only

working bull ring, La Monumental, watched mainly by curious tourists.

 

However, a city council spokesman told BBC News Online that there has

not been a large bullfighting following in the region since the 1960s.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/3605225.stm