Bullfight ban will 'hurt' economy

Bullfighting is said to generate about 2.5 billion euros ($A3.65 billion) a year for the Spanish economy. Photo: AFP Catalonia's bullfighting ban will have financial costs for the region as well as for the sector, which is already struggling due to Spain's economic downturn, the industry and supporters said. Catalonia's parliament on Wednesday voted to ban bullfighting from January 1, , becoming the first region in mainland Spain to outlaw the centuries-old tradition.Cheers broke out in the assembly as the ban was approved by 68 votes in favour to 55 against and nine abstentions, while supporters and opponents of the ban both held noisy rallies outside.The bullfighting sector is now expected to try to claim hundreds of millions of euros to offset losses it says it will suffer as a result of the ban.Workers in the industry have also threatened to sue the Catalan authorities if the ban goes ahead on the grounds that it contravenes human rights legislation by denying them a means to earn a living."The ban will be economically disastrous for Catalonia, and not just because of direct losses," the head of Spanish bullfighting lobby group Mesa del Toro, Eduardo Martin Penato, told the online edition of daily newspaper Publico.Top Spanish matador El Juli said the ban "would cause big losses for an important economic sector, which provides a livelihood for many families".The bullfighting sector directly employs about 40,000 people in Spain, according to sector estimates.International accounting network BDO estimates that bullfighting generates about 2.5 billion euros ($A3.65 billion) a year for the Spanish economy Rosetta Stone Spanish (Spain) and drew 14 million spectators last year.But according to left-leaning newspaper El Pais, only about 900 major bullfights were staged across Spain last year, 350 fewer than in .The drop in the number of bullfights in Catalonia has been especially sharp. Only 16 major bullfights were held in the region in compared to 31 in 01, according to the pro-bullfighting lobby group PPDF.The motion passed on Wednesday tightens Catalonia's animal protection law to remove an exception for bullfights from a ban on killing or mistreating animals in shows, in what is the biggest ever setback to the practice in Spain.Animal rights activists campaigning under the platform "Prou!", or "Enough!" in the Catalan language, had collected 180,000 signatures on a petition calling for the assembly to decide on the ban.Their campaign won international support, with backing from celebrities including British comedian Ricky Gervais, Canadian actress Pamela Anderson and Nobel Prize-winning author JM Coetzee.But while Catalonia's arguments for banning bullfighting have focused on animal rights, many in the rest of Spain believe the push is also based on a desire among some Catalans to emphasise their distinct identity.Top Spanish bullfighter Enrique Ponce said "Catalan nationalists" had hit out against "a symbol of the identity of our country" with the decision."They are attacking the culture, traditions and history of our country," he said.Esperanza Aguirre, the conservative head of the regional government of Madrid, said the move "has nothing to do with animal abuse" and was instead aimed at "breaking the ties" between Catalonia and the rest of Spain.

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