When the signatures are validated, the Congress Board will order the publication of the proposition, which must be considered within six months.
Representatives of around two hundred animal rights associations, promoters of the Popular Legislative Initiative (ILP) ‘It’s not my culture’, have delivered 715,600 signatures in Congress to urge the repeal of Law 18/2013, which defines bullfighting as part of the cultural heritage worthy of protection throughout the national territory. The promoters have specifically asked the PSOE to support this proposal that «is about rights and freedoms.»
«No progressive government can lag behind in this progress towards a freer, more ethical, more European, and more respectful country for our planet. We trust in that and we will continue working towards that in the coming months,» emphasized Marta Esteban, a member of the Promoting Commission.
In this regard, Esteban, who has extended the request to the PSOE and other political groups, stressed that «in a democracy, culture is chosen, not imposed,» before proceeding to deliver the signatures, which will now need to be validated by the Electoral Board.
The minimum required for the presentation of an ILP is 500,000 signatures. Once it is proven that the required number of signatures has been exceeded, the Congress Board of Deputies will order the publication of the proposition, which must be included in the agenda of the Plenary within a maximum period of six months for consideration.
Esteban has urged parliamentarians to consider that Law 18/2013 does not allow autonomous communities and municipalities to prohibit bullfighting if they wish, something that was attempted in Catalonia, which banned bullfights in 2010, and in the Balearic Islands, where a regulation was drafted to prevent the killing of the bull in the arena. By repealing the law, they want to return the decision-making power to the autonomous communities to decide whether or not they want bullfights.
Furthermore, she has urged reflection on how a «cruel» activity that divides Spaniards can be considered cultural heritage. In this sense, she has referred to surveys by the BBVA Foundation, which show that «eight out of ten Spaniards reject the use of animals for bullfights.»
«TIRED» OF BULLFIGHTING RECEIVING PUBLIC MONEY
On the other hand, Esteban has emphasized that animal rights activists are «tired» of bullfighting receiving public money. In her opinion, if it weren’t for public subsidies, bullfighting would have disappeared a long time ago. In this regard, she detailed that the Community of Madrid has dedicated 20 million euros in the last three years, in an autonomous community where «there are still 300,000 children without an assigned pediatrician.»
She also denounced the «front organizations» like the Toro de Lidia Foundation, «which receives money from all autonomous communities.» «For example, 516,000 euros from Andalusia; 1,237,000 from Castilla y León; 1,400,000 from Madrid; 300,000 from the Valencian Community. «Why? Because they want to hold events with public money, give away many tickets (…) and make it appear that there is a demand that does not exist,» she criticized.
As a final argument, Esteban denounced that bulls are «promoted among children and young people as cultural heritage.» She insisted that this goes against the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which has urged Spain «to protect children from the physical and mental violence of bullfighting.» At the same time, the Spanish Constitution establishes that the rights of children must take precedence over any other freedom.
Several political representatives have accompanied the promoters during the presentation of the signatures, including the general secretary and deputy of Podemos, Ione Belarra; the deputy in the Assembly of Murcia and secretary of Green Horizon and Animalism of Podemos, María Martín; the federal coordinator of Green Alliance, Juan López de Uralde; the president of PACMA, Javier Luna; the vocal member of the party’s Executive Board Beatriz Arévalo; and the provincial coordinator of the party in Madrid, Asunción Estévez.
On his part, Javier Luna has stated that PACMA will actively support this initiative in all its phases and will continue to advocate for the end of bullfighting in Spain, advocating for a society model that respects animals and rejects any form of normalized abuse.