rritorial delegation of Castilla y Leon (the region in which Toro de la Vega is celebrated, in the town of Tordesillas) “denied permission to Tordesillas Council to carry out the festivity” . In reality, what was really banned was the killing of the bull, the rest of the festival was still allowed to go ahead. The rule applies for all celebrations of the same type in Castilla y Leon. According to El Mundo, the festival first took place in 1534.

Despite not being nearly good enough for many animal rights activists, a further issue may be that protecting the animal is not the real reason for these new rules. Nevertheless, examples of spectacles being banned because of their cruel nature and violence towards animals could indicate a similar fate for bullfighting one day. Although bullfighting still has not come under the same scrutiny on a political level nationwide, most Spanish people would seem to support a ban of festivals such as Toro de la vega, according to the Ipsos MORI poll in which 75% oppose the fiesta. Putting together the fact that there has been little backlash at the restrictions imposed on the Toro de la vega and that more than half of people surveyed also opposed bullfighting, the restrictions of these traditions and current feeling in Spain towards them could suggest a similar destiny for bullfighting.

A natural decline?

Spain started to become a popular tourist destination in the 1960s and more and more people have visited the country from all corners of the world in the following decades. Despite enjoying many of the typical Spanish attractions, as well as bullfighting and famous events such as the Pamplona bull run, many foreigners did not take so kindly to the country’s blood sports. Tourists coming from countries such as the UK were probably not accustomed to such events being so culturally accepted (in the case of the United Kingdom, fox hunting was legal but not as popular among the masses as bullfighting had been in Spain).

As mentioned previously, bullfighting is a strong Spanish tradition. However, it may appear that tradition does not hold as much importance to many Spaniards in the 21st Century, particularly the younger generation. (3) claims that bullfighting has been on the decline ever since the death of Francisco Franco. When Spain transitioned from a fascist dictatorship to a democracy, Spaniards suddenly had more freedom to express themselves and go against cultural norm. A big reason for this was the influence from outside the country, art and music scenes from the UK and the US, for example. Spanish peop