Bullfighting and Independence in Catalonia

On 25 September 2011, ahead of an impending ban, Barcelona’s La Monumental bullring held its last bullfight, ending a 96-year-old legacy. The act was not simply to end animal cruelty but represented a clash over Catalan identity.

In the 1930s, shortly before the dictatorship of General Franco (1936–75), bullfighting emerged as a true spectator sport in Spain,¹ uniting a politically polarised nation. Under Franco, machismo traditions like bullfighting became a symbol for a specific brand of nationalism, as he sought to centralise the nation on the Castilian language and values. Given its historical dominance, and geographically Spain’s largest region, Castile was awarded moral supremacy over distinctive minority cultures, and Catalan nationalism, like the bull, was sacrificed in the process.

Following Franco’s death, Catalans contested for cultural distinction from the conservative heartland of the Spanish state. The return to a Spain of autonomous communities saw Catalonia gain its own parliament in 1978 with responsibilities for running its affairs. This allowed for distinguishing bullfighting as a Castilian rather than pan-Spanish custom. (Roughly half of Spain’s 561 bullfights in 2011 were held in Castile.²) On 28 July 2010, following a 180,000-signature petition, the Catalan parliament voted to ban bullfighting.

Beyond La Monumental — which had held the entirety of Catalonia’s ten bullfights in 2011³ — the practical effects were limited. The intention was clearly political: to assert independence by outlawing an icon of Spanish national identity.

In 2016, during heightened tensions on the independence issue, Spain’s constitutional court repealed the ban stating that the ‘preservation of common cultural heritage’ was the responsibility of the state.⁴ Despite the repeal, no bullfights have taken place since in Catalonia.