Sarah..... My apologies to your culture. I was just reporting what CNN had to say. I am not an expert on bull-fighting, but have found it outrageous over the years.
I have watched these "bull-fights" in Spain. Thank you for the history lesson. I knew that my post my not be accurate. What is your point? Have read your post several times and am still not clear. If this is something else we can blame on the Nazis', let me know. Should I have made the mistake and blaming it on Spain, I will be the first person to same I'm sorry. I guess my point was to say that it is horrific treatement of Animals. End of story and my apologies to your Culture. Thank you. Mike Nolan Mike, as a native of Barcelona myself, regarding your comment about bull-fighting I would like to make a small correction. The "sport" (if you can call it that way) was NOT started in Catalonia (the correct name of the "region" is Catalunya). The torturing and sacrifice of animals in public was officially started by the ancient Romans in their Circus (and probably there are older precedents to that). Basically, is the same show the gladiators put up with, only that it combined killing people with torturing and killing animals. That tradition was probably imported all throughout the Roman Empire. Barcino (now Barcelona) and Tarraco (now Tarragona), ancient roman cities, probably received enough Roman circus tradition to go along. The Bullfighting as we know it today is mostly a "tradition" from Spanish culture, that is the culture from most of the territory of what is known as Spain today, which between the 16th and 20th centuries was many times exported to Central and South America. It was never part of the culture of Catalunya, an independent nation established about a thousand years before the Castilla (now the center of Spain) was a kingdom of any sort. Catalunya has been oppressed over the centuries through many invasions, and in recent times, when after the Civil War of 1936-1939, the nazi regime of Generalisimo Franco was imposed upon the whole Iberian Peninsula. At that time, all of Spain, including Catalunya, embraced (by choice or by force) the "National Art" (el arte nacional). Notice that during all these years, nobody in the country at large, pointed at how torturing an animal could be considered an art. Thanks to a very young democracy (it started in 1977), the recent ban on bullfighting in Catalunya, voted by the Catalan government in Barcelona, and started by a citizen initiative, is a victory for all of us who think torturing animals cannot be a standard of national pride. This is a first step in a long fight against animal cruelty of this type. It is also a victory to eliminate a "national tradition" that Catalans do not consider of their own. Sarah Frias-Torres, Ph.D. http://independent.academia.edu/SarahFriasTorres ---------- If we are on another line or away from the phone, please leave your number, best time to return your call and/or your e-mail address. After hours and weekend phone appointments are available upon request. Sincerely, J. Michael Nolan, Director Rainforest and Reef 501 (c)(3) non-profit ************************************************************************************************** "Outstanding-Affordable Field Courses in Rainforest & Marine Ecology" "Spanish/Cultural Immersion Programs: Spain, Mexico, Central and South America" Rainforest and Reef 501 (c)(3) non-profit 161 Main St. Coopersville, MI 49404 Local/International Phone: 1.616.604.0546 Toll Free U.S. and Canada: 1.877.255.3721 Fax: 1.616.604.0546 Google Talk/MS IM/Skype: travelwithrandr AOL IM: buddythemacaw E-mail: i...@rainforestandreef.org and travelwithra...@gmail.com Note: Please send inquiries to both e-mail addresses Web: http://rainforestandreef.org **************************************************************************************************
