VALENCIA'S mayor Joan Ribó is questioning whether 'Portuguese-style' bullfights would solve the impasse between the pro-bull and anti-bull brigades – a spectacle where the animal is not tortured or killed.
Whilst those who want to see bull-fighting abolished say there is no place in 21st-century society for any form of entertainment which involves killing animals or harming them physically or psychologically, those who want to keep it going say it provides jobs, helps the economy and ensures conservation of coastal marshland set aside for bulls to graze.
They also speak of 'culture', 'tradition' and 'freedom of artistic expression', saying spectators go to bullfights to watch the 'skill and courage' of the matador.
Animal protection societies say that to attack a frightened animal who is merely trying to escape harm is not an act of courage.
But in Portugal, where bullfights still take place, the animal is not harmed or killed and the events are more akin to rodeo shows in México and the USA where the ranch-handler's skills, rather like those of a sheepdog, are the main focus.
“It would be a good idea for Spain to come to an agreement that meant bulls did not get killed or harmed in the ring,” said Ribó, who represents the left-wing regional party Compromís.
A huge demonstration involving at least 30,000 pro-bullfight protesters filled Valencia's bullring on Sunday and gathered outside it, whilst dozens of animal support groups, with the help of falleras wearing just their hairpieces and red paint to signify blood but with banners covering their modesty, staged a counter-protest against the bullfights due to take place over this week.
Bullfights traditionally take place during Valencia's massive March Fallas festival, and in over half of all towns in the three provinces of Valencia, Castellón and Alicante, which make up the Comunidad Valenciana, events with bulls take place during summer fiestas.
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