MADRID, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The regional parliament for the Balearic Islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera on Monday voted to pass a law that forbids both the death of the bull or any bloodshed in bullfights.
A traditional bullfight sees six bulls killed in a bullring by being stabbed by a matador's sword through the back, after the animals have previously been weakened in a ritual which sees them first stabbed in the shoulders by a picador's lance and then to have six short spears "bandelleras" stuck into their back.
The new law forbids the bull's death in the bullring, as well as any physical or psychological damage, forbidding the use of "bandilleras, lances, knives or swords," while limiting the time a bull is in the ring to a maximum of ten minutes after which "it will be returned to the corral."
The minimum age for attending a bullfight was also raised by 16 to 18 under the new law.
The law was passed with the approval of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), left wing party Podemos and regional party Mes Mallorca, but was opposed by the right wing People's Party and center-right formation Ciudadanos.
Bullfighting has already been banned completely in the Catalan region in northeast Spain and also in the Canary Islands and is generally seen as losing popularity among the younger generation of Spaniards. Nevertheless it is still the subject of bitter debate among those who view it as a Spanish cultural tradition and those who consider it a cruel aberration which has no place in a modern nation.
