• Active against bullfighting for 30 years
  • Active in all bullfighting countries
  • We depend 100% on donations
Nederland Spanje Engels
geredde stieren
Home / Spanish government wants to push through bullfighting in Balearic Islands

Spanish government wants to push through bullfighting in Balearic Islands

15-11-2017

Spanish government wants to push through bullfighting in Balearic Islands

The Spanish government has appealed to the Constitutional Court to revoke the end of traditional bullfights in the Balearic Islands. Since August 11, it is forbidden in this state to kill or maltreat bulls during a bullfight. The government of the state aproved a new law in July 2017 to end traditional bullfighing. CAS International worked, together with other organizations, to achieve this goal.

The Spanish government had three months to appeal. Finally this was done just one day before the expiration date. According to the Spanish government the states do not have the political power to end bullfighting since this is protected as Cultural Heritage (Bién de Interés Cultural) since 2013. In case the magistrates of the court decide to take this case in consideration, the new law on bullfighting will be suspended.

Marius Kolff, director of CAS International, about the decision by the Spanish government:

“Again, the Spanish government convulsively decides to maintain a barbaric feast and in the process call a state to order. Bullfights do not belong in the present. The Spanish Court declared invalid the prohibition in Catalonia and it is expected that they again will do so in the Balearic Islands. In Catalonia and the Balearic Islands 90% of the members of Parliaments, as real representatives of the people, want to prohibit bullfighting. The Court, controlled by members of PP (the conservative political party) keeps sticking with the past, something that is not shared by most Spaniards. It is bizarre that modern states want to become independent of domination by Madrid, a domination that shows colonial tendencies.”

Mallorca Sense Sang
Because the Consitutional Court decided in 2016 that states cannot prohibit bullfighting, a new strategy was required in the Balearic Islands: the prohibition of several elements of bullfighting. Approved with 33 votes in favor, 19 against and 2 abstentions, a new regulation was enforced. The bullfights themself were not prohibited, but the killing (during and after the event) or hurting of the bull was banned. The bull must return to the farm he comes from. Horses were no longer allowed in bullfights. The bullfighters and animals would be subjected to doping control. Moreover, the entrance of minors (under 18 years) was no longer allowed.

The last three years we worked intensively to end bullfighting in the Balearic Islands in the campaign Mallorca Sense Sang (Mallorca Without Blood), led by AnimaNaturalis and CAS and supported by HSI. Other organizations also battled for the end of bullfighting on the Balearic Islands. Now, finally, this has been achieved thanks to the work of many, among them LIBERA! Illes Balears, AVATMA, Fundación Franz Weber, Mercy for Animals and CoPPA.

Help the bulls and horses! Become a sponsor or make a donation.