Spain’s finest matadors were to slay their prey in Catalonia’s historic last bullfight yesterday, a spectacle that was to be played out before 18,000 fans in a sold-out Barcelona arena.
The unequal duel between man and beast on the sands of the -century-old Monumental Bullring was to be the final combat before a permanent ban takes effect in the northeastern region from next year.
A relief to animal rights activists, the ban is a bitter blow to bullfighting enthusiasts.
Photo: EPA
Three matadors were to spar with a total six bulls — two each — before putting the half-tonne, sharp-horned animals to the sword.
In the Spanish tradition, a picador riding a heavily shielded horse lances the bull behind the neck to make it drop the head slightly. Then, three banderillas try to plant sharp, barbed sticks into its shoulders. Finally, the matador induces the bull with his cape to make a series of stylized passes in a display of art and bravura, tiring the animal before plunging a steel sword deep between its shoulders for the final kill.
The first matador to step into the ring was to be 38-year-old Juan Mora, then the legendary 36-year-old Jose Tomas and last the 28-year-old Catalan Serafin Marin, a fierce defender of the Spanish tradition.
In two rounds the trio were to put to death all six of the beasts bred for battle by the El Pilar de Salamanque ranch.
Catalan regional members of parliament voted in July last year to ban bullfighting as of Jan. 1 next year after animal rights groups managed to gather 180,000 signatures for a petition demanding the debate.
“I feel bad about it, sad. They take away all your past and part of your future,” Marin said.
The matador said he agreed with critics who say the ban is not so much a victory for animal rights as a way for independence-minded Catalans to thumb their noses at the rest of Spain.
He pointed out that other -festivals, including one in which flaming torches are attached to the horns of a bull that is then pursued through the streets, will survive the new regime.
“We have won a battle, but not the war. We will continue to work for animal rights in Spain, Catalonia and elsewhere,” said Helena Escoda, member of the rights group Prou, Catalan for “enough,” which fought for the ban.
Though the bullfight goes back to the 16th century in Catalonia, it is losing interest in the region and in the rest of Spain. In a 2008 survey, only 22.5 percent of Catalans questioned said they were interested in the tradition. Barcelona’s Monumental arena only hosted 18 fights in the whole of last year.
However, fans of bullfighting have not given up hope: They hope to find 500,000 backers to present their own petition to the national parliament and classify the combat as a cultural asset. If they can do so by the end of this year, bullfighting fans believe they can stop the ban taking effect.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was