Beginning in the Parliament of Catalonia of the controversial presentation of the bill to prohibit the three most rejected types of festivals with bulls (embolado, ensogado and in the sea). Four of the first five speakers, all former senior officials of the Generalitat with experience in the regulation of correbous, advocated "continuing to improve the regulations" and guaranteeing animal welfare instead of vetoing bullfighting celebrations.
For the former leaders of the Government, all from Terres de l'Ebre with the exception of the former Minister of Culture Lluís Puig, prohibiting parties with bous would be counterproductive and would generate a great feeling of indignation in the south of Catalonia.
The only voice in favor of the ban at the start of the presentation was that of David Calvo, former socialist deputy in the Valencian Courts and promoter of the Animal Protection Law of the Valencian Community. "Culture and its traditions must evolve at the rate that societies do," he said.
The first to present his reasons in favor of regulating festivals with bulls was Xavier Pallarès, former delegate of the Generalitat in Terres de l'Ebre. "If it is believed that some modality is not done well enough, let's try to correct it before prohibiting it," Pallarès said in Parliament.
Former councilor Puig, who participated by videoconference, has pointed in the same direction. "My desire would be to achieve a propositional law so that these now questioned festivals can evolve. I am not in favor of prohibitions," explained the person who for six years was the general director of Popular Culture of the Generalitat. "In those years I saw that the Agrupació de Penyes Taurines de las Terres de l'Ebre wanted to regenerate and modernize the festivals with bulls," added Puig.
Another of the first five speakers was Víctor Gimeno, former territorial director of Medi Ambient i Habitatge in Terres de l'Ebre, who had a relevant role in the preparation of the so-called first Manual of good practices of the correbous. "We would have to come out with a code of good practices two, and it has to be done with the people of the territory," said Gimeno.
The last to take the floor was Marta Cid, a former member of the Iberian Parliament who participated in the drafting of Law 34/2010 on bullfighting, promoted to shield bullfighting in Catalonia after the Parliament banned bullfighting (always with the death of the animal).
A law that now the proposed law of En Comú Podem and the CUP wants to modify to prohibit the three most controversial modalities, which also represent 80% of the festivals with bulls in Catalonia, almost all of them in Baix Ebre and Montsià. "You have to find meeting points between different sensitivities, open the participation of everyone. If legislation is legislated against the will of whoever is throwing the party, this will be like a boomerang, and it will come back," Cid warned.
The presentation has scheduled the participation of more than 80 people. In addition to politicians, veterinarians, animal welfare experts, members of bullfighting clubs and animal associations will pass through Parliament. The presentation of the bill to veto the most criticized bullfighting celebrations will take several months before the legislative change can be voted on in Parliament.
For animal activists it is just a delaying maneuver to stall the entire legislative process and ensure that the abolition of part of the correbous is not voted on before the end of the current legislature. If elections to the Parliament are called before the vote is taken, the entire legislative process would have to start again.
