On Tuesday, the Spanish Supreme Court, the highest instance body of justice in Spain, ruled that there are no reasons to exclude bullfighting from the activities that young people can access thanks to a special cultural bonus intended for them. The court agreed with an organization that had sued against the decision of the Socialist government to exclude bullfighting from the shows that can be accessed through the bonus. The ruling has reopened a debate that has been going on for a long time in Spain: some consider bullfighting a historical tradition that is part of Spanish culture, while others consider it a cruel and anachronistic practice that should be abandoned.
The “bono cultural joven” was introduced in 2022 and works in a completely similar way to 18App, the 500 euro voucher for newly 18-year-olds introduced in Italy in 2016 by Matteo Renzi’s government. It is worth 400 euros and provides that all girls and boys who turn 18 can choose to spend half of it on books, textbooks, computers or musical instruments, and the other half on cultural activities, such as concerts, shows or exhibitions.
The Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport had excluded bullfighting, which is precisely the spectacle of fighting bulls, from these activities. The decision was contested by the Fundación Toro de Lidia, an organization that defends and promotes bullfighting, which appealed. The Supreme Court finally agreed with the foundation on the basis that bullfighting is recognized as cultural heritage of Spain by a law of 2013. It also added that, according to it, there would not be sufficient reasons to exclude this practice by virtue of the its «cultural, historical and artistic value» for Spanish society.
Sources from the Ministry of Culture interviewed by the País have made it known that the decision will be respected and therefore it will be possible to ask to participate in a bullfight through the youth culture bonus.
Bullfighting is a very ancient tradition and is widespread both in Spain and in various Latin American countries, where for a long time it was considered an occasion for social gathering (to tell the truth in Spain today it is much less frequented by young people). It foresees that the bull is instigated to fight by the bullfighter (in Spanish “matador”), who has the aim of impaling him with special swords and killing him. Although following the economic crisis of 2008-2009 the number of bullfights in Spain has decreased significantly, it is still a practice that is deeply rooted in certain regions, such as Andalusia and the capital Madrid. Activists have long argued that bullfighting is a cruel practice and are lobbying for it to be abolished.
The Supreme Tribunal’s decision was welcomed by both the Fundación Toro de Lidia and some conservative politicians, such as the president of the Madrid region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who said that bullfighting should not be set aside because of what she called “ideological preconceptions”. For Sergio Torres, an animal rights activist, it is a signal that the law that protects bullfighting and defines it as cultural heritage should be reviewed: the journalist Pedro Vallín wrote that the effect of the sentence will be precisely that of to accelerate discussions to ban it.
In Spain, bullfighting has been banned in the Canary Islands since 1991; in 2010 they were also banned in Catalonia, but the decision was overturned by the Spanish Constitutional Court in 2016.
