Spain’s highest court overturns Catalonia bullfighting ban

Spain's constitutional court has ruled to overturn the ban on bullfighting that has been in place in Catalonia for around five years, declaring it unconstitutional.

The Court argued that bullfighting is part of Spain’s cultural heritage, and therefore could not be banned by local governments or even the semi-autonomous region of Catalonia.

The regional Catalan parliament voted to ban the practice in 2010, becoming the second Spanish region after the Canary Islands to ban the tradition. Bans are also in force in the Balearic Islands and several Spanish municipalities.

The ban, which came into force in January 2012, was widely seen as an attempt by Catalan nationalist to distinguish the region from the rest of Spain. Catalonia is set to hold a referendum on independence in September 2017.

Around 2,000 bullfights are held across Spain every year, but recent opinion polls suggest that public support for the tradition has waned. Critics claim the practice is barbaric while supporters, including Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, insist the tradition is an ancient art form rooted in Spanish history.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Madrid last month to demand an end to bullfighting, with banners saying “Bullfighting, the school of cruelty” and “Bullfighting, a national shame”.

In July, a matador died after being gored by a bull in the eastern town of Teruel – the first Spanish bullfighter to have died in the ring for over 30 years.