Bullfighting ban lifted

MADRID: Spain’s top court has overruled a local ban against bullfighting in the powerful northeastern region of Catalonia, saying it goes against a national law protecting the spectacle.

The constitutional court ruled yesterday that Catalan authorities could regulate such public spectacles, and even ban them, but in this case parliament’s ruling that bullfighting is part of Spain’s heritage must prevail.

Catalonia stirred controversy when it banned bullfighting in 2010, becoming Spain’s second region to do so after Canary Islands in 1991.

The decision was part of the growing movement against bullfighting but it was also seen as another step in the Catalan government’s push to break away from Spain. The ban had little effect as Catalonia had only one functioning bullring in its capital Barcelona.