Thirteen years after banning bullfighting in Catalonia, the Parliament will once again debate the limits of popular entertainment and animal abuse. It will be to decide whether to prohibit or maintain the most aggressive modalities of the correbous, celebrations with steers that have great roots mainly in the Terres de l’Ebre and that the majority parties have always protected, for mainly electoral reasons, under the argument of defending a party in which the animal is not killed. The territory exerts a certain social pressure that the party leaderships take into account.
This Wednesday, representatives of the eight groups of the Parliament have constituted the presentation in which the debate will take place over the coming months, based on a bill proposed by the CUP and En Comú Podem to modify Catalan law 34/ 2010, which regulates festivals with bulls. However, the long list of approved appearing parties, about 90, does not predict a quick processing. And when the work on the presentation is finished, the debate has to return to the plenary session of the Parliament, where the initiative obtained the green light in October to begin its journey. All of this within the period of approximately one year remaining until the end of the legislature.
The debate is uncomfortable for the PSC, Junts and ERC. If the law ends up being modified, it will be surgically. When bullfights were banned in 2010, there was only one active bullring in Catalonia, which closed in January 2012, and the vote was already very close. But with correbous it is even more complicated. About 450 bullfighting festivals are held each year -most of them in the south of Tarragona-, in which thousands of people participate and which are a hallmark of identity in a territory in which the three major parties share municipal power. And we must count on the opposing vote of Vox and the PP, pro-bullfighting parties, who do not want to change the law.
To be more specific, what is up for debate is to eliminate the types of correbous that are most harmful to animals, basically bou embolat, which consists of making a bull run with a support with fire on the antlers, and bou capllaçat, in that the animal is made to run with its horns held by a rope. The promoters of the initiative also talk about ending the release of bulls on the beach, in enclosed areas with fences.
The rest of the celebrations with bous are shielded. Parliament law 34/2010 will continue to protect releases in closed areas with protective barriers and steps (bous a la plaça); He releases it through the streets of a town, also with fences (bous al carrer); the displays of skill of the participants when charging a steer, or the so-called bou salvatge, which consists of releasing the animal for the first time, from a box or corrals, to a square or along a group of streets.
In the preamble of the law, the popular roots of these festivals are highlighted, whose “first signs date back to the 17th century” and it is detailed that “it was during the 18th and 19th centuries that they spread to various municipalities of the Terres de l’ Ebre and the rest of Catalonia”. “The bou capllaçat, the bous in the street, the skills in the square, the bou embolat and the heifers mark the entire festive rhythm of an extraordinary event, typical of the deepest roots of Catalonia,” continues the preamble, in which It highlights “the economic flow that this tradition brings, the jobs it generates and the immeasurable genetic heritage of breeding and selection that humans make.”
For now the debate has been opened. This Wednesday the presentation has already named the rapporteur, who will be the En Comú Podem deputy David Cid. The first meeting to set the work plan will be held on January 19.
The list of appearances is also already approved. On Tuesday the votes were taken, based on a proposal of 152 appearances registered by the groups, which remained, once the duplications were eliminated, at around 90. It is an unusual figure that was not reached even with key debates such as the Statute. , and which raises doubts about the true political will to advance the debate. At each presentation meeting, about three or four municipal or entity representatives may appear to present their arguments for or against the ban.
In the previous round of interventions by the groups to defend their proposals for appearance, the CUP and the Commons denounced an attempt at obstructionism in the pace of work of the presentation. “We have been surprised by the large number of appearances presented. It is nonsense, so that the law does not go ahead,” lamented CUP deputy Daniel Cornellà, who asked the other members of the presentation to allow the law to reach the plenary session of the Parliament and there the groups decide “and not strand it in the production process.”
David Cid (En Comú Podem) also denounced “a boycott strategy led by some parties”, in reference to the PSC and the PP, due to the number of appearances registered, “with the sole desire that this law gets stuck in the presentation” and “try to burst the parliamentary debate through the back door.”
From the PSC, Joaquim Paladella defended that it is “a symbolic, sentimental, sensitive issue, and we must listen to everyone, reach an agreement, without hurting sensibilities.” The socialist deputy also wondered who loves animals the most, and said that “it could be, on the one hand, the one who presents the bill, but also the one who knows those animals by name, takes them to the corral, loves them, and “He lives every day in his territory,” he said. “We want to listen to all sides, all sensitivities, we don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Paladella added.
The representative of ERC, Juli Fernández, defended being able to listen to the opinions of the entities in favor and against the limitation of the festivals, but also to the municipal representatives of the towns where correbous are held. And he stressed the importance of “having a work plan to move forward,” while opening the door for appearances to be grouped together and for some to be done in person but also in writing, a proposal that would undoubtedly help shorten the time. time of drafting the law in the presentation. On behalf of Junts, Ester Vallés was very brief and only said that they would vote in favor of the appearances they had proposed.
As for Vox, deputy Alberto Tarradas considered it “nonsense” to pass a law “to prohibit a part of culture.” For the PP, Daniel Serrano assured that it is a debate that raises “passions for and against” and it is the duty of the deputies “to listen to everyone.”
