Guardian:Spanish region set to ban bullfighting - by Giles Tremlett

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Bullfighting looks set to be banned in part of Spain as the Catalan parliament prepares to vote tomorrow to prohibit one of the country's most emblematic, and bloodiest, traditions. In a move that campaigners hope will mark the beginning of the end for bullfighting in the country that invented it, a petition with 127,000 signatures was delivered to the region's parliament earlier this week. Under local laws, the parliament must first vote on whether to accept the petition and then draw up a law, which would be subject to a second, definitive vote in several months' time. The law is likely to be passed, with minority separatist and far-left parties in the region committed to supporting the ban, while the major parties allow their deputies to vote freely. Separatists claim bullfighting is not a Catalan tradition.