KEY POINTS:
BARCELONA - Spanish matadors may soon have to change their job descriptions.
Matador, which in Spanish means killer, may be banned from despatching bulls in las corridas.
Spain's Environment Minister, Cristina Narbona, said yesterday the law should be changed to spare bulls from their traditionally bloody end.
Instead, Spain should follow Portugal's example, and hold bullfights without killing the animals.
Ms Narbona's comments have met with immediate opposition from those keen to preserve Spain's controversial national 'sport', some from the most unlikely quarters.
Bull breeders and Left wing politicians alike locked horns with the minister for pandering to what one called "Anglo Saxon prejudices".
But animal rights activists and ecologists supported the suggestion which came after Barcelona council announced this week the city's only bullring may soon have to close due to lack of business.
Ms Narbona told the Spanish daily El Mundo: "We have to try, perhaps in the next legislature, to end this bloody moment at the end of the bullfight.
"There is a growing movement in the European Parliament against bullfights and each time it is harder to defend them."
Ms Narbona said recent legislation introduced by Madrid which brought in jail terms and tough fines for animal cruelty and holding 'unauthorised shows', like cockfighting or illegal greyhound races, should also include bullfights.
The level of support the minister has in Spain's Socialist Government for her proposal was unclear.
Though outside Spain bullfighting is widely condemned, inside the country it is regarded by many not as a bloody spectacle but by aficionados as an 'art'.
But El Mundo speculated at least industry minister Joan Clos would support a ban on killing in bullfights.
Mr Clos was mayor of Barcelona when the city officially declared itself opposed to bullfighting in 2004.
But Jose Blanco, Socialist party secretary general, said: "This is not part of our policy."
Swift condemnation of Ms Narbona's proposal came from many quarters of the pro bullfighting lobby.
Gaspar Llamazares, leader of the United Left party, said he opposed a measure which would "incorporate the prejudices of the Anglo Saxons".
Despite reassurances from the Socialist party, Eduardo Miura, president of the Spanish Union of Fighting Bull Breeders, asked: "Is this the opinion of the minister or the government?"
Enrique Garza, president of the Association of Organisers of Bullfights, said: "This spurious attitude of the minister goes against the interests of a section of Spaniards."
Bullfighter Miguel Abellan said: "They want to end bullfighting little by little." But Consuelo Polo, spokeswoman for Ecologists in Action, applauded the minister's suggestion.
She said: "This is an open window to hope. What we have lacked is a brave and dignified government who can finish with this macabre fiesta for once and for all."
This week, owners of Barcelona's last working bullring said they are to close after mounting losses.
Bullfight promoters at the Monumental Plaza de Toros said they lost over 28,000 euros ($53,000) each time they held a bullfight owing to falling attendances.
The only other major bullring, Las Arenas, is being transformed into a leisure centre by the British architect Lord Rogers.
Takings from bullfights have been falling in recent years due to the expense of putting on las corridas.
And a recent poll revealed that its popularity was waning amongst Spaniards.
According to the Gallup survey in October, only 27 per cent of Spaniards expressed any interest in bullfighting, while 72 per cent declared no interest whatsoever.
Bullfighting saw the peak of its popularity in the early Seventies as prosperity grew and going to see los toros was seen as a sign of this new-found wealth after years of hardship.
- INDEPENDENT
