BYE-BYE BULLFIGHTING

Now I don't know how avidly you follow news of bullfighting (I'm guessing very), but on the July 28 the local government of

Catalunya

voted to ban bullfighting starting in 2012. The news has lifted the lid on a bunch of issues ranging from animal welfare to Spanish identity and regional autonomy. You know, the standard issues people like to get angry about which have more or less zero effect on most Spainiards' actual lives. Here in the Spanish office of Vice, a very scientific poll of hands was conducted, and the issue received two wrinkled noses from the girls, a "whatever the clients say" from marketing, and a fairly unanimous "couldn't care less" from the rest of us. The general consensus seems to be that none of us were planning to stab swords into two tons of angry cow anytime soon, but didn't have a problem with it if someone else wanted to. (Exception to this came from my girlfriend who threatened to split up with me if we ran this article. Good news, Maggie Gyllenhall!) What did seem interesting was the idea that there's now an entire subculture in Spain, that has been made illegal. It's not like they've banned smoking (never happen), but it's still an odd situation to find yourself in. We got in touch with Luis Corrales, president of Barcelona's José Tomas

Peña

(like a fan club for bloodsports), to tell us his point of view:

Vice: OK, basics first. What's does a Bullfighting peña get up to? Luis Corrales

: This peña has 60 members, but not everyone comes every week. Sometimes there'll be 15, other times 20. Sometimes we'll watch a bullfight on TV or video. Occasionally we'll have guest speakers, like a tailor, or a ganadero [farmer who breeds bulls for fighting]. We also organize trips to see José Tomás fight in different cities--but there's no set agenda.

So you guys are like football fans?

Sort of. Once a year we look for a young bullfighter to sponsor. We find six young men, and organize a

becerrada

[bullfight with young bulls]. The best one gets the prize.

Tell us about your views on the Bill?

It's clearly a political decision with animal rights being used as an excuse. It had already been decided by the CiU [National party of Catalunya] even before the ILP [Popular Legislative Initiative] started. It was a key part of their strategy to achieve independence. Following the events of the last few weeks--the

failure of "el estatut"

, and Spain's victory in the World cup--it was inevitable. Both of these things were clearly seen as an affront to Catalan ideals. So the bullfighting was a way of saying to Madrid, "Whether you recognize it or not, we're our own nation, and we can ban what we want."

Is it really such a big deal though? In the Canary Islands bullfighting has been illegal since 1991.

But in the Canary Islands bullfighting died out naturally. The last bullfight was actually in 1983! We don't have a problem with the same thing happening here. If people stop going and it stops being profitable, then by all means ban it. On a side note though, I hear that cockfighting is in rude health over there…

There's been a lot of goofy figures in the press about this, but one I read recently said that while 80% of Spainards were against bullfighting, only 10% supported banning it.

I think that's true of Catalunya, and Spain in general. The way I see it, 80% of people couldn't give a fig whether there's bullfighting or not. They're not going to waste a penny, or a second worrying about it one way or another. Then there's a minority who are actively against bullfighting, and maybe 10 or 15% of the population who don't want it banned. The problem is that the anti-taurine group know how to make their voices heard, and we don't. For us it's not an ideology that we have to fight for. It's part of our culture.

So now that the law's been passed, what are you going to do?

First of all, I don't think the law will go ahead. We've appealed it already, and we're doing everything we can to stop it being implemented. But even if it does happen, we'll still get together. Bullfighting's illegal in France, for instance, but there are still peñas. There's even a peña in Stockholm.

Do you think that illegal fights could happen after 2012?

Well it could happen. And I can see the attraction in it being illegal. But it's complicated obviously, because a bullfight isn't a poker game! You need a ring of 50 or 60 meters, horses, stands for spectators… And then there's the bull itself, which isn't exactly inconspicuous. Maybe they could do them on aircraft carriers in international waters.

I would actually go see that. Dumb question maybe, but do people bet on bullfights?

No. The big international bookmakers do offer odds, but it's extremely unpopular. I remember there was once an attempt to do a national pool based on bullfights but it only lasted six months. Here in Spain, it's not seen as a sport in the sense that there's a winner or a loser. If you really love bullfighting, you don't care if they cut an ear or not. The important thing is that the

pase

[the steps the matador takes before killing the bull] is a good one.

Not to be flippant, but what exactly are the arguments in favor of keeping bullfighting legal?

We don't have to justify why bullfighting happens: There are promoters who put them on, fans who pay to see it. There's farmers who breed the bulls and there are Matadors.

La Fiesta

isn't a show for us, it's a way of understanding the world. The values that it transmits are ones that we think society needs--but we're not going to force it on anyone. We think that truth, comradeship, solidarity, ethics, sacrifice, pain, professionalism and being strong in the face of adversity, are all values that society can benefit from, and that are present in a bullfight.

And what are you up against?

Our biggest handicap is trying to explain to people exactly what La Fiesta is all about. People just see the photos of a bull with blood pouring out of its mouth. They don't know about the life of the bull from the moment it's born until when it's in the ring. We're tired of taking animal rights activists into the country to show them how the bulls are treated, and them going "Fuck, i had no idea it was like this." As far as publicity goes, we're stuck in the 19th century, and now it's the 21st. The fault lies with the promoters, the farmers, and also with the fans for resisting change. On the other hand I think that the "animalism" that the activists preach is a huge lie. They put all animals together based on whether they suffer or not, and I think that's a generalization that's so artificial, if we were to accept it as fact, our entire civilization would disappear. There's really no difference between a pubic louse and a dog? The way I see it, a dog or a louse, a snake or a monkey or a cat or a bull are very different creatures in the grand scheme of things. No bullfighter would stab a dog. Neither would they try and stroke a bull. We see ourselves as having a nuanced view of animal ethics, based on our relationship with that animal and the animal's nature. When we talk about "freedom" it's because we believe in real freedom. Of course if an animal rights activist wants to stroke a bull, then by all means. We're not going to stop them. INTERVIEW BY PAUL GEDDIS AND MIRIAM ARCERA