Parliament to debate the future of bullfighting next week

This will follow two years of work by the campaign that has devoted itself to bringing an end to the "national party" (as bullfighting is referred to by some) and to animal torture and "death for fun". The campaign can now count on the support of 32 of the 53 municipalities in Majorca that have declared themselves against bullfighting plus the Council of Majorca, which has made a similar declaration.

"This will be historic," says campaign spokesperson, Guillermo Amengual, who has thanked the efforts of many people, including the more than 146,000 signatories to the petition calling for a ban, leading names from the worlds of culture, sport, fashion and cinema, and now political parties, all of whom are determined to make bullfighting "a bad memory in a few weeks".

"This is the change that people voted for on 24 May and it is now be realised. Majorcan society will no longer accept bullfights in Majorca. This will be an historic year for animals in the Balearics. In 2016, bullfighting will be abolished thanks to the promises made by the parties which govern in the Balearics."

The campaign has, meanwhile, called on Alcudia and Muro town halls to issue fines against the promoters of bullfights in the towns for minors having been allowed into areas last year. It has congratulated Palma for having done just this. The town hall fined the promoter 14,000 euros for allowing minors to enter and also for illegal publicity and insufficient facilities.

Muro is perhaps the town which provides the staunchest support for the bullfight, its town hall having made very clear that it believes Muro to the "the" town for bullfighting on the island. It is not one of the 32 municipalities to have come out against bullfighting, therefore, and nor is Alcudia. Inca, where no bullfight was held last year, has also not made the declaration, meaning that Palma is the only municipality where a bullfight is still staged to have done so. Other municipalities which have not made the declaration include Andratx, Pollensa, Fornalutx (where there is the bull-run, which will probably also be banned) and Felanitx, where there used to be a bullfight up until a few ago, when the bullring was closed on safety grounds.