Bullfighting Is No More Considered as a Nationalistic or Historically Significant Sports - Term Paper Example

? Bullfighting and Deep Spain It is an evident fact that bullfighting which is termed as corridade toros in Spanish is one of the oldest practices in the world. The fact remains that the main reason behind its evolution was an iconic display of bravery for people in the historical myths including Mesopotamia and Gilgamesh. Later in the history, regions such as Rome and Spain noted the evident practice of corrida de toros as a source of entertainment. In particular, Spain has a historical trace of corrida de toros where bulls were used instead of horses. It was introduced in Spain as a form of entertainment that later on became a national practice in order to celebrate the day of Christopher Columbus. Despite noting the practice of corrida de toros being national, there have been ambivalent attitudes noted by the contemporary Spaniards. In this paper, I shall focus on the fact that contemporary Spaniards had been involved in controversy regarding the practice and implication of bullfighting in Spain. I agree with the fact that bullfighting is an inhuman act which leaves no different between an animal and humans. As a matter of fact, corrida de toros was introduced in Spain by Francisco Romero who was a dictator and ruled Spain for a long time. It was his effort that bullfighting ultimately became a part of Spanish tradition. However, in the current times, it has been noted that Spaniards are completely against bullfighting for a number of reasons. Sometimes, by conducting such events, it was also marked as a competition between humans and animals. It will not be incorrect to state that corrida de toros was followed as an entertainment mandatory at the wedding ceremonies of the royal. In order to understand the association of bullfighting and Spain; there is an avid need of going through the history. There are a number of reasons such as entertainment, competition, and services that have been noted whenever there is an undertaking of discussion regarding bullfighting. During the 19th century, bull fighting was made a form of entertainment for elites only. It rather helped them project a showcase of their bravery and power to others (Douglass). With the implication of Franco’s ideal of bullfighting, large arenas were created where bullfighting took a complete different level of professionalism. There were certain rules that were created to make sure that the practice of bullfighting is conducted properly. At one hand, the practice of bullfighting became popular and professional but on the other hand, bans were put on this tradition. The earliest ban that has been observed in the history of bullfighting was by King Philip II who believed that bullfighting was a very disgusting act of entertainment. In fact, he stated that it is the most lethal form of blood sport. The ban was not directly posed by King Philip II but by Pope Pius V. There was an issuance of Papal Bull in 1567 which prohibited practice of bullfighting. The major term which was clearly enhanced by this ban was to save the lives of combatant from bull or any other beasts (Seufert). On the contrary, there were some of the groups who infused bullfighting as their personal interest because it allowed them to make profits on this blood sport. Herein, it should be made cleared that the profits which were being made with the help of this blood sport were only limited to few people or elites precisely. It comes clear for understanding as stated in the following quote, “Moreover the opposition against bullfighting has also been gaining political influence within the last years and celebrates as its success that 74 Spanish towns have already declared to be “anti-bullfighting municipalities (Seufert 102)”. Later on, after eight years, the ban which was imposed by Pope Pius V on bullfighting was laid off by Pope Gregory XIII. In this way, there were several occasions where bans were implied on bullfighting but after some time, they were also restored. Another famous ban which was quite effective came in 1991. Within this ban of bullfighting, Canary Islands turned Spaniards community against bullfighting as autonomous group. This time, the ban did not only talk about the safety of humans but also noted the rights of animals. Since it was legislation, it had a lot of support from Spaniards as well. The social lens that was being used to view this issue subjected nationalistic interest of bullfighting as null. For most of the people, it was incorrect to associate bullfighting as a symbol of Spain. To Spaniards, even in the modern times, their characters are not of bullfighters or inhuman (Douglass). Few years back, it was made sure that the implication of bullfighting was completely suspended from Catalonia. The context of this act was that in no way bullfighting allowed a group division. Considering the stance of elites regarding bullfighting, they considered it as a dangerous and deadly form of sport that should not have been supported at the first place. Catalonia, in particular, has suspended the idea of making the sport to be a national event for celebration. In addition, Barcelona Town hall passed a legal notice in 2004 that made it evident that bullfighting was completely banned. They used the word ‘friend’ for animals as bullfighting was being a cruel reason behind slaughtering of bulls (Seufert). Despite increased number of bans which were being put against bullfighting, it was still being practiced. Thus, this confirmed that ban was yet needed by law on bullfighting for which the Parliament of Catalonia approved legislation against bullfighting. In this way, it came to notice that bullfighting was no more a national event for Spain. As noted by the author, “These last two oppositions (culture versus folklore, art versus barbarism) are a bit paradoxical because those against bullfighting, the antitauinos, often take the negative attributes of the lower-level fiestas and apply them to corrida itself. Bullfighting enemies also accuse the planet of bulls (Douglass 83)”. Bullfighting was rather putting a negative impact on the psychological upbringing of people in Spain for which it was avidly needed that bullfighting was banned in Spain. Also, there were no traced that proved economical contribution of bullfighting in Spain. A number of researches and investigations were also carried out that involved elite classes as well as middle class groups of Spain to understand their views about bullfighting. It was marked that people do no associate their cultural enrichment with bullfighting. In fact, it has been said that they consider bullfighting as a historical mistake of their ancestors which needs to be corrected with utmost significance given to it. It was due to this reason that parliament in Catalonia after taking 18, 0000 signatures, completely banned bullfighting with its implication form January 1, 2012. Almost 80 and more cities have affirmed their opinions against bullfighting under the statement of ethics and animal rights. Following this notion, it has been marked that other Latin American countries have also banned the practice of bullfighting. This is one of the strongest campaigns against any practice in Spain which has taken an international appeal (Seufert). Through the above in-depth argumentation, it becomes visible for understanding that bullfighting is no more considered as a nationalistic or historically significant sport. People or Spaniards have greatly rejected the idea of practicing bullfight in the name of elite entertainment. The only reason behind the practice of bullfighting which is still being noted in the different cities of Spain is because they argue it to be the reason why people from different parts of the world want to come to Spain for tourism. However, it has been noted in the polls conducted by tourists as participants that they would not like to experience bullfighting because they consider it to be unethical. Another reason behind its practice is that it generates money as an industry but the fact remains that capital is only shared by a very small group of people who may own the arcades. Despite the fact that the industry of bullfighting is facing serious recession, these elite arcade owners would never cut down the amount of their profit. It is rather noted that they obtain public capital in order to cover the expenses which is used to maintain the arcades as well as the bulls for the sport. It cannot be overlooked that this industry has a lot of subsides for instance, bullfighting schools where people are trained to take part in this blood sports, bullfighting fan club where legacies are decorated in the shape of museum with timely maintenance, breeding and slaughtering of bullfighting bulls that needed increased amount of capital etc. The amount of money that is taken by these subsidies could have been used in welfare programs and provision of health. With the above content, I have made my point that bullfighting can never be considered as an iconic symbol of any culture because it’s a blood sport which had taken many lives just for the sake of making negligible money. Works Cited Douglass, C. Bulls, Bullfighting, and Spanish Identities. Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 1999. Published. Seufert, M. La Corrida de Toros - The Tradition of Bullfighting in Spain. Barcelona: GRIN Verlag, 2011. Print. Read More