Animal welfare

Muro set to hold pre-ban bullfight

Controversy over bullfighting in Balearics. | J. Aguirre

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterMuro10/03/2016 00:00

Muro, the most defiant of Majorca's municipalities when it comes to bullfighting, is to stage a bullfight on 2 April. The decision follows last week's registration with the Balearic parliament of the legal amendment that will see bullfighting banned in the Balearics.

The town normally holds a bullfight event during its summer fiestas for Sant Joan, but the ban is likely to be in place before this. Hence, there is to be this special event in April that will feature, as shown in the poster for the occasion, the "rejoneador" Juan Manuel Munera (a rejoneador is a bullfighter on horseback), four matadors, including the local bullfighter, José Barceló, known as "Campanillas", and a novice fighter. There will also be music from two pianists, Felipe Campuzano and Gabriel Durán, during the event.

The legislation to ban bullfighting may well face a legal challenge even before it fully enters its parliamentary phase. The Bullfighting Foundation is considering action because it believes the legislation would violate a national law of 2013 which gives bullfighting cultural interest status in line with the Constitution. A Balearic ban would, it is argued, constitute a confrontation between national and regional law but in which the regional government does not have the power under the statutes of autonomy to effect a ban.