Word: bullfighting
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...understand the state of bullfighting in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region, you need look no further than Las Arenas. The striking, late 19th century arena with faux Moorish arches, located near Barcelona's central Plaza de España, once pulled in thousands of bullfighting aficionados for the traditional - and gory - Sunday corrida (the Spanish word for "bullfight"). Today, it is being converted into a shopping mall...
...After decades of both intense anti-bullfighting activism and benign neglect (Las Arenas hasn't hosted a bullfight since 1990), Catalonia may become the first of Spain's autonomous regions to officially ban the sport. At the end of October, the Catalan parliament will begin the first round of voting on a popular initiative that seeks to outlaw bullfighting completely - and establish one more difference between the region and the rest of Spain. If the initiative survives the vote, lawmakers can propose amendments before a final vote is held, probably by end of year. (See pictures of bullfighting...
Jimenez is also pleased by the larger crowds, although she expressed nostalgia for earlier times when the crowd was more knowledgeable. "Many people now come just to be seen," she complained. "I think we are losing part of the art of the bullfight, because people are not interested anymore in what happens between the bull and the matador...
...Peru. Many of the smaller plazas are much more hands-on, with spectators jumping the barricades to get a brief shot at playing matador. Spectator involvement may be one reason why these smaller rural arenas were spared the downturn suffered by Acho. Another reason is the price. Staging the bullfights at Acho costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is why the price of seats even in the less expensive sunny side of the arena is $50. By contrast, a ticket to a town bullfight in Ayacucho, in the central highlands, runs around...
...many, bullfighting remains a powerful sign of identity. "It's part of our social genome," says Luis Corrales, president of the Platform for Defense of the Bullfight. "It gives us a sense of who we are as a people." That may be changing - one poll puts the proportion of Spaniards opposed to bullfighting at 80% - and animal rights proponents here like to point out that just because something is traditional doesn't make it right. Still, activists on both side of the bullfighting fence agree that, at least for now, a law banning bullfighting is unthinkable...