Spain’s public TV has broadcast a live bullfight for the first time in six years after conservative PM Mariano Rajoy lifted a ban on the tradition. REPORT BY BBC The fight in the northern city of Valladolid screened on Television Espanola (TVE) on Wednesday evening.
The previous socialist government cut live transmissions as they were costly and aired in children’s viewing time.
Anti-bullfighting sentiment has been on the rise, with Catalonia outlawing the practice in January.
Lawmakers in the autonomous region voted for the ban last year — the first in mainland Spain — after 180 000 people signed a petition.
But the corrida, as it is known, is still permitted in all other regions of Spain except in the Canary Islands, which banned it in 1991.
Pro-bullfighting supporters, who include Rajoy, said the tradition was an art form deep rooted in Spanish history.
It dates back at least 4 000 years and is thought to have been popularised by the Romans.
For those who have never watched a bullfight on TV, and might never want to, the coverage is in some ways similar to the way any TV channel would cover a football match.
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The party’s election last December, and the subsequent, more recent change of management at Spain’s public broadcaster, paved the way for the return of bullfighting to TVE.
For those cheering in the stadium, waving their white scarves in approval after the first kill, it is a risk-ridden sport and the ultimate act of bravado.
For others in Spain and abroad, it is simply cruel.
TVE’s decision to air a short series of fights in the coming months, at the traditional time of 6pm, is seen as a big victory for fans of the bloodsport.
