‘Bullfighting lite’: Mayor of Valencia suggests way of saving Spanish pastime in face of animal-rights protests

For many it is the ultimate battle of man against beast, even if the result is largely a foregone conclusion. But in future, if new proposals are accepted, all bullfights in Spain may end in a score draw.

For several years, animal-rights protesters have argued that bullfighting is little more than a cruel indulgence. Several towns and regions, notably Catalonia, have banned the spectacle altogether, prompting a backlash from traditionalists who argue that the pastime is a bedrock of Spanish culture.

The new leftist Mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribo, has proposed a third way, in which the bull is spared, rather than being stabbed in the back of the neck – the usual end to a contest. “There are more and more people understanding that mistreating animals is a practice that must be eradicated from our society,” Mr Ribo said. “I think it could be interesting if we in Spain could find a way in which the bulls did not get that final treatment [in the ring].”

The Mayor was commenting after a pro-bullfighting demonstration in his city, which reportedly attracted 10,000 people.

Whether Mr Ribo’s “bullfighting lite,” as it has been nicknamed, will quell passions on both sides of the debate remains to be seen. The demonstration attracted a number of famous matadors and others who want to preserve the bouts. “The bullfighting world is aware of the problem and maltreatment we are suffering at the hands of a part of the political class,” Jose Antonio Morante Camacho, a well-known matador, told the crowd. “We are here to say, this is our life, it’s a tradition.”

The political winds in Spain may be against those such as Mr Morante Camacho, however. The caretaker government of the centre-right Partido Popular lost its parliamentary majority in last December’s general election. It has argued that bullfighting should be afforded special protection, as part of Spain’s cultural identity. Such a move would reverse the decision of several town halls and municipal governments, which have moved to cut public funding for these events.

Mr Ribo cites Portuguese bullfights, corridas de touros, which are not fatal to either party. The Mayor is from the Compromis party, the Valencian affiliate of Podemos, which has vowed to sweep away privileges enjoyed by elites in Spanish society.

But even his proposals are unlikely to assuage animal-rights activists who argue that corridas de touros are simply a less graphic version of the Spanish bullfight.

“The Mayor fails to recognise that the bulls are still stabbed with the barbed darts before being eventually killed out of sight of the public, thus prolonging their agony,” Pacma, an animal-rights group, said.