A Half-Ass Defense of Bullfighting
Those feisty Catalonians are at it again. Catalonia, the most fiercely autonomous region of Spain, voted today to ban bullfighting, citing animal cruelty. For the record, I’m glad they did and believe it makes sense. Having visited the beautiful Catalonian capital of Barcelona with Lee, I can tell you bullfighting was not the main attraction for us. (Topless beaches, paella and architecture were.)
But we did take a bike tour while there that included a pit stop at the main bullring (pictured to your right). Our wonderful guide John, all too aware of the controversial nature of the subject before us, decided to take a different angle. He said, “You all have heard the reasons against bullfighting, so rather than rehash those, I’m going to give you a defense.” I thought it was a novel approach, one that was sure to challenge the PETA-brained Americans in the crowd. I made sure to write down his arguments when I got back to the hotel (somehow knowing they’d come in handy for a blog post two years later).
Like I said, I hate bullfighting (and bull riding for that matter). Perhaps I read too much Ferdinand growing up. But I think it’s always good to hear the other side. So here are three points in defense of bullfighting, as told by John:
- John said one pro to bullfighting is the bulls live lavishly, moreso than some humans even! They spend their time in big, grassy fields, not all bunched up like cattle farms. He said they all eat organic food too, just like Gwyneth Paltrow.
- Another defense of bullfighting is that they only use old bulls, after they’re done mating with all the hot young topless heifers. I think this might be the weakest point because it wasn’t immediately clear what he meant by old. Putting an ageing animal in a ring to get impaled is not quite the same as euthanizing your childhood cat when it develops some debilitating disease.
- His last point was they suffer for only about 15 minutes. A relatively short time, according to John. But for anyone who’s ever been stabbed, 15 minutes probably feels like a lifetime.
John didn’t include a fourth item, but Lee wanted me to add: matadors have kids to feed.
So what do you think? Is there some justification? Cultural tradition? I don’t expect this ban will really catch on in the rest of the Spain. But I take comfort in the fact that a few more happy bulls can now spend their time sitting under the trees and smelling flowers.