Thousands of people have rallied in the Spanish capital Madrid to call for a ban on bullfighting, adding their voices to a growing animal rights movement that has prompted some administrations to clamp down on the centuries-old tradition.
PACMA, a Spanish political party that promotes animal rights, said that Saturday's rally was the biggest protest yet against the gory sport, in which a matador brandishing a sword and cape battles a bull in an effort to kill the animal as a public spectacle. [...]
Surveys show public support for bullfighting has waned in recent decades in Spain. An Ipsos Mori poll from January carried out for animal welfare organisation World Animal Protection, found that only 19 percent of adults in Spain supported bullfighting, while 58 percent opposed it. [...]
Politically, the issue has been divisive. Spain's parliament, under the centre-right government of the People's Party (PP), moved to protect bullfighting in 2013, declaring it a cultural asset and enabling it to draw on public funding.
But some regions have cracked down on elements of the festivals, including northeastern Catalonia, which banned bullfighting outright in 2011.
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