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Change from within
After heated debate, Catalonia bans bullfighting
Defenders of the sport see it as a hallowed tradition, but opponents deem bullfighting barbaric. Some see the move as an attempt to assert Catalan identity.
BARCELONA, Spain —
The independence-minded region of Catalonia became the first on the Spanish mainland to outlaw bullfighting Wednesday after impassioned debate.
Lawmakers in Catalonia's regional assembly approved the ban after emotional speeches that mixed expressions of support for maintaining tradition with denunciations of bullfighting as institutionalized cruelty.
The vote culminated a public initiative to ditch bullfighting that began more than 1½ years ago and has drawn international media coverage. Backers of the ban erupted in cheers in the assembly chamber's gallery.
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But critics have assailed the campaign for a ban as a pretext for more nakedly political and nationalist ends. They suspect the true motive is a desire to poke a stick in the eye of the rest of Spain, an assertion of Catalan identity as different.
The assembly vote here in Barcelona, the regional capital, came during a mood of heightened anger among Catalonians clamoring for more autonomy, if not outright independence.
Earlier this month, Catalan nationalists put on one of the biggest demonstrations ever seen in this sun-splashed part of northern Spain. The protest was fueled by outrage over a long-awaited ruling by Spain's constitutional court that upheld most of Catalonia's charter on greater self-rule but refused to recognize a legal basis for calling the region a "nation."
Conservatives say that getting rid of bullfighting further undermines Spanish unity, calling it a gratuitous attack on one of the country's most hallowed traditions.
Advocates of the ban reject suggestions that their views or actions are a byproduct of Catalan separatism. They see bullfighting not as a tradition steeped in romance but a barbaric practice steeped in blood.
When the anti-bullfighting organization Prou (Catalan for "Enough") launched its petition drive to put the issue before lawmakers, its goal was to clear the legal hurdle of 50,000 signatures; it wound up collecting 180,000.
Nonetheless, the issue was a sensitive one for Catalonian politicians, who are facing an election later this year.
Before Wednesday's vote, bullfighting fans and foes gathered outside the parliament building to press their case as lawmakers arrived to take their seats inside. One anti-bullfighting activist stripped himself naked, then poured a bucket of fake blood over himself to encourage legislators to "stop animal cruelty."
Diamond Member
It's on next year. I'm going to a corrida.
50 years from now life is not going to be worth living because everything will be correct, safe, sanitary, without taste and without contour. I hope by then I will have killed myself dramatically and gorily, out of disgust and out of spite, and laughing loudly.
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Reminiscent of Meursault's closing line in Camus' The Stranger: "I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate."Originally Posted by ngeso
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Fabulous!
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a friend of mine from college went out in a blaze of glory this year.. got a lot of petrol and incinerated himself in a big trash container... his myspace status at the end read: "So long, and thanks for all the fish"
hope you know where that's from.
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HGTG Part 4 or 5
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Gold Member
I saw my first Bull fight a few years ago in Spain....... I was in complete awh!!! Not because of the death, and torture of the animal; but more of the "spectacle" that was happening in the stands, the Ring, just the experience all the way down to the smell in the air.
I think this is the main reason why people attend bullfights. Not necessarily to see the animal get tortured, but for the unforgettable experience which comes along with your purchased ticket.
Let's face it, bullfighting has been around for thousands of years, not just in Spain; but throughout Northern Africa and the Mediterranean. It was just as much as a spectacle back then as it is now, the only difference is that society today is more willing to let traditions die (right or wrong) do to their "primitive" nature and political incorrectness.
Whats more socially irresponsible?
Bullfighting? (Bread to fight; but has many uses after death eg. feeding children.)
Call of Duty? (Kill your other human bot in a virtual world where you are rewarded accolades for murder, and has no useful benefit in reality.)
People were entertained by the experience and not the death , when the latter is the opposite.
Galaxy rays; Powerful!!! =D
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lol...
Diamond Member
Get a grip people, times change. Lots of things from the good old days were not so good.
Last edited by MarkK; 07-28-2010 at 02:10 PM.
Gold Member
I agree with you Markk.......... There are tons of traditions and acts that were terrible back in the day! I am not saying BF is good; i'm saying if we are to be a progressive Global Society we have to look at our culture as a whole, in order to make some real progress.
Galaxy rays; Powerful!!! =D
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Religion is even more ass backwards than Bullfighting - and yet 95% of everyone on Earth practices some form of religion.
My guess is Bullfighting wont be going anywhere anytime soon...
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As I said elsewhere in this post, change on this issue must come from within Spain, not imposed from the outside. Although this is tinged with politics, it sounds like it has started in Spain.
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You got a serious problem with religion Nay. You know that's damn cultural too, so you'll have to deal and live with it!
Idance
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Yes, only because it's ass backwards and is only useful as a means of keeping people stuck in the Dark Ages...
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Spain is a pretty good example of that (NOT that I agree with you on all your rants against religion).
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I am digusted.
I have been reading the day's newspaper online forums, and the commentary regarding this issue is simply unbearable.
I am beginning to have serious problems with modern, bleating, babbling, emotionalised, self-inspecting and non-contributing public man. There is no doubt about it: I need to leave all this modern bullshit behind me and find a life that is more suited to my way of thinking.
It truly is a shame about the bulls. They were one of the very few species in the animal kingdom that were revered and respected for their character, their personality, their agility, their movement, their might, and their capability to test and bring out the best in a man in victory, defeat and death. Now they are going to be simply swept away as insignificant, depersonalised nonentities among the sheer unfathomable masses of terminally dull, ruminating, methane-farting, foot-and-mouth-deseased living carcasses of rib roast, porkbelly and mince, to be mindlessly, gluttonously and perpetually bolt-shot into oblivion in giant killing yards ankle-deep in blood, entrails and shit, and devoured by all you nutless, wimpish, moping, self-centered, can't-stand-the-sight-of-blood, murderous zeroes.
I infinitely hate you all, you stupid pricks. Enjoy your cheeseburger.
[rant over]
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Last edited by ngeso; 07-29-2010 at 06:49 AM.
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I hope your fat, rheumatic, wheezing cocker spaniel named Rusty has a massive seizure before he gets run over by a cattle transporter.
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N., smoke a fatty, life goes on
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N., smoke a fatty, life goes on
Yeah, but what kind of life.
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Forgot to take your medication today?
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lol irony
www.deephouselounge.com / Sundays 2-4pm EDT
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The precious, secured life.
Idance
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The precious
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i find myself agreeing with ngeso.... always
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