ve. I feel it is necessary to highlight animal rights in the case of arguing against blood sports in Spain as that is the main argument against bullfighting. The reason for this is that the question of whether the sport is outdated ties in with advances in animal rights. The rights of animals have been given more consideration in many parts of the world where before there were none. Examples of this can also be found in Spain. As well as the banning of bullfighting in certain regions, many local festivals have also seen restrictions imposed on their celebrations involving animals, such as the Toro de la vega, in Tordesillas ; beginning during the Franco dictatorship and continuing today, many festivals have witnessed stricter rules such as a swifter killing of the animal or no killing at all.

In 2016, the territorial 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 surv