The bullfighting season kicks off in Inca with a controversy that does not subside

IncaInca reignites the debate around bullfighting this Sunday, March 29, with the start of the bullfighting season. And, as is customary, a few meters from the venue, animal rights groups have called for a protest with the slogan 'It's not my culture'.

The mobilization takes place in a context of growing social distancing from these types of events. The organizing organizations maintain that sensitivity towards animal welfare has evolved significantly in recent years and that it is increasingly difficult to justify animal suffering as a form of entertainment. Satya Animal, one of the organizing groups, defines the situation as 'a continuous loop' of activities they consider alien to a 'modern and morally principled' society.

The criticisms are not limited to the event itself, but also target public administrations. The collectives denounce that resources continue to be allocated to the promotion of these acts and that access for minors is facilitated, an aspect they consider particularly worrying. In this regard, they point to both the explicit support of the PP and Vox for bullfighting and the lack of a clear stance from the PSOE at the local level, whom they reproach for an ambiguous attitude: 'The PSOE of Inca, specifically, is a clear example of cowardice and electoral conservatism for allowing their town to be the epicenter of torture on the island,' they state from Satya Animal.

Along the same lines, the Franz Weber Foundation has repeatedly warned about the impact of bullfighting events on children and adolescents. Naturalists also criticize the abstentionist position of PSOE Inca: “It contravenes the very position that the PSIB has maintained since 2017 in the Parliament, when it endorsed the prohibition of access for minors and later voted against the legal reform that allowed access thanks to the PP-Vox bipartisan government”.

At a political level, Més per Inca, which is part of the government team along with the PSOE, believes that a municipality that has the "Child-Friendly City" designation should not host a spectacle based on violence and death: “This designation implies a commitment to guarantee safe, educational, and violence-free environments, a premise that directly clashes with the exposure of minors to animal abuse”.

The eco-sovereigntist party hopes that the prohibition will soon be included in a law again, specifically by taking advantage of the reform of the Organic Law for the Integral Protection of Children and Adolescents, “which should have already been approved”.

It should be noted that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended that the Spanish State, both at the state level and at the level of autonomous communities, establish a minimum age of 18 years to participate in bullfighting events, without exception, and promote awareness activities “about the negative effects that violence associated with bullfights has on children”.

The Franz Weber Foundation has denounced that the Government of Marga Prohens has not made a statement on the matter, “which shows that they are comfortable with the warnings from an international body”.

The competence debate

It is clear that the debate is not only social, but also political and legal. The protection of bullfighting as cultural heritage at the state level limits the capacity of autonomous communities and city councils to regulate it. Initiatives such as the ILP “Not my culture”, supported by more than 700,000 signatures, have attempted to reverse this legal framework, although it was rejected in the Spanish Congress by PP, Vox and UPN, with the abstention of the PSOE.

The initiative did not propose the prohibition of bullfights, but rather the repeal of the law that protected them by declaring them intangible cultural heritage. Its objective was clear: to return to autonomous communities and city councils the capacity to decide whether or not they want bullfighting events in their territories.

Therefore, it must be recognized that at this moment we are facing a problem of competencies - like so many others we have in the Balearic Islands - and the Inca City Council does not have the power to decide on bullfighting activities or on policies for access or promotion to minors.

Alternatives and future of the bullring

The legal framework leaves municipalities like Inca with very little room for action. Even so, entities and political formations suggest that there is still room for alternative measures. The Franz Weber Foundation proposes the possibility of acquiring the bullring and transforming it into a facility with cultural and social uses, while Més per Inca advocates for collaboration formulas with the property owner that would allow regulation of its use and prevent activities based on animal cruelty.

We do not know if any of these proposals could move forward in the coming years. The only certainty is that the celebration of bullfights contrasts with other legislative and cultural advances in animal protection, and it is most likely to follow the same path.

On the eve of Sunday's event, Inca prepares for a new chapter in a debate that has been open for a long time and does not seem likely to be resolved soon. Inside the bullring, defenders of bullfighting as culture and tradition; outside, those who advocate for a culture without animal torture. And between these two spaces, society and politics will be decisive for the future of the bullring.