Since the dawn of civilization, human beings have entertained themselves by making animals fight. The fact that people still like to pit dogs and cocks against each other is proof of man’s sadistic streak. So too is the gory spectacle of bullfighting, which, though cloaked in the shimmering aura of the matador — a heroic figure, daring and dashing — seems a tradition more suited to the bloody coliseums of the ancient world than to the 21st century. Some local governments in Spain, bullfighting’s cradle, seem to agree: Catalunya banned the sport last year.
See “Catalonia Bans Bullfighting, but the Fight Isn’t Over.”