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Bullfight, the end of a tradition in Barcelona

Sunday, september 25 2011 was a day not like an usual day, of course every day is different and unusual, but this day was the funeral of the "taurina", the bullfighting, in Barcelona. Before to continue, let’s go back to the past first.

The bullfighting, also known as "corrida de toros", appeared the first time in Catalonia in 1387 during the reign of John I, the Hunter, King of Aragon and the Torin, the first bullring, was built in 1834 by Josep Fontserè i Domènech in Barcelona.

This place was located in the Barceloneta neighborhood and it was closed in 1923. Actually, nothing remains of it because it was destroyed in 1944 so don’t try to play

the archaeologist because you will find only a big modern crystal building. The Arenas was the second bullring dating from 1900 and built by August Font i Carreras. In june 19 1977, people could enjoy the last bullfight and actually, if people go to the espanya square, they can appreciate its nice front and if they like shopping, it is the place to go because since 2011, it is a big mall.

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The Monumental was the third bullring built in 1914 by Manuel Joaquín Raspall Mayol and it will be the last one of Barcelona because the catalan parliament approved a law in 2010 forbidding any "tauromaquia" show, the art of bullfighting, in Catalonia. This law took effect in 2012 but it doesn’t prevent the ETC (escola taurina de Catalunya - bullfighting school of Catalonia) to keep going on with its classes and any other bull events to show as the "correbous" (most known as the fire bull) in other cities/towns/villages.

Now after this brief history, you may understand why it was an unusual sunday in Barcelona. In fact, it was a sad day for the world of taurina but a happy day for the defenders of animal rights. The Monumental was totally full, all online tickets have been sold out and only few places could be bought in store. So few that people started to make the line the night before and for people who came late, they had to find someone ready to sell his "extra" tickets for an exorbitant price !!!

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In the arena, the audience was hypnotized by the performance of the 3 bullfighters, fighting against the bulls of Núñez del Cuvillo, who were José Tomás, Juan Mora and Serafín Marín. They went out of the bullring triumphantly and carrying on shoulders with the catalan flag, they walked on the gran via corts catalanes street with some people shouting "liberty" and others "killers".

For the occasion, the poster was designed by the famous artist Miquel Barceló. Actually the Monumental will be dedicated to another kind of shows like concert or circus and of course, people can still go to its taurine museum (open from 11h-14h and 16h-20h).

Although Barcelona has decided to turn a corner to this tradition, the fight between the 2 groups still continues. One will try to make the bullfight declared as heritage of cultural interest and the other will try to ban all forms of abuse in Catalonia.

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