Colombia Passport

The Parliament of Catalonia decreed a prohibition to bullfighting in the northeast of Spain that will be enforced after January 1rst, 2012. The project of law was known as the Popular Legislative Initiative and was presented by 180 thousand citizens asking the definite suspension of bullfighting in the Catalonia region, an activity that is considered for many as a Hispanic tradition not only in Spain but in most Hispanic American countries like Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela. Ecuador and Peru. The congressmen voted 68 in favor of the prohibition, 55 against and 9 abstentions.

But Catalonia is not the first region to buried by law the traditional fiesta brava. The first prohibition was ruled in the Spaniard archipelago of Canaries following a regional law for the protection of animals that was established in 1991. The process of Catalonia was observed with attention by those countries were bullfighting is also considered a sport and cultural tradition, among them France and Portugal.

It brought a long discussion among those who fight for the protection of animals and those who see bullfighting as an art and an ancestral tradition. By sure, the discussion will encourage groups of animal protection groups in other Spaniard regions and countries with bullfighting tradition.

In Colombia, the main cities have big plazas for the traditional bullfighting like Bogotá, Medellín, Cali and Manizales. There is also internationally recognized bullfighters like Pepe Cáceres and César Rincón. There has been even female bullfighters like Berta Trujilla, known as La Morenita del Quindío.