Should Bullfighting be Made Illegal in Spain?

The National Geographic posted a short documentary in 2009 on a renowned Mexican bullfighter, Gaston Santos Senior and his son. Even though Santos was a bullfighter in Mexico, the information I gained from watching this video is still relevant and gave an insight into the world of a professional bullfighter.  Santos had a 30 year career, having fought over 2000 bulls. To justify his involvement in this sport, Santos said "Is there no violence in hockey or boxing? It’s in our nature, we have become predominant on our planet because of our violent competitive nature. So, I see nothing wrong for violence as part of a spectator sport. Most of them are.” (Santos, Gaston, National Geographic, 2009, 29th October 2021). His point is that there can be "violence in any competitive sport, so bullfighting is no different". However, at this point I can only recognise the fact that people choose to participate in those sports, whereas the bulls are forced.  Also in this video, there w...

 Today, I looked into the process of a bullfight and what actually occurs. The source I used was CBBC Newsround: ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/animals/bullfighting/newsid_3659000/3659770.stm ) This source is reliable because it is a factual page meant to teach people about the sport of bullfighting. It is aimed at younger audiences however, so the “gruesome” details are perhaps slightly limited. "The main characters in a bullfight are Cavaleros, Matadors and Picadors. The Horse men target the bulls with spears and darts tipped in what looks like brightly coloured tinsel. The cavaleros are the stars of the show and are applauded as they dodge the bulls charges. Next come matadores who use a coloured cape called a muleta, to direct the bulls around the ring." The source also states that the matadores have the most important job, as they finish the fight by killing the bull. The bullfight is more of a spectacle than a sport; the whole "fight" is a...

I found a website today that is primarily a travel and information page. It had an interesting article, "Information on Bullfighting",  https://traveltips.usatoday.com/information-bullfighting-spain-3422.html .  which offered information on where specifically bullfighting originated from:  The origins "trace back to 711 A.D., and the first fight was held in honour of the king, King Alfonso VIII".   ( Thyberg, David, 2021). Spain was once a part of the Roman Empire, so the correlations between the bullfight and the gladiator games are visible. (This link is particularly interesting as it expains that bullfighting is on the borderline between being art and a bloody competition). The source also states that "bullfighting  was done on horseback and was reserved for Spanish aristocracy, but King Felipe V ended this trend because he believed it was in poor taste for nobles to practice such a bl oody sport". ( Thyberg, David, 2021). "Information on Bullfight...

 Today, I looked at a book by Carrie. B. Douglass on the "Modernity and Tradition" of bullfighting because in my plan I specified that i'd like to gain an insight into the origins and tradition of it. This book offers some information, mainly opinions:  "For many Spaniards and Hispanics, bullfighting is a minor, unimportant nineteenth century survival, part of an arcane world view associated with General Franco and his supporters." (Douglas, 1997). From my studies in A Level Spanish, I know Franco was a fascist dictator in Spain from the years 1939-1975, and his dictatorship was a time of opression, cruelty and fear. To say that bullfighting is "associated" with General Franco fully emphasises the barbaric nature to it. Also, the Franco Regime was particularly oppressive towards women who were told to stay at home and raise children and essentially live to make their husbands happy and satisfied. Therefore, there is a sense of toxic masculinity in the ...