Madrid - The Spanish government is planning to reduce the bloodshed in bullfights, prohibiting bullfighters from killing the bull in front of spectators in bullrings, the daily El Mundo reported Thursday.
Environment Minister Cristina Narbona told reporters she would try to introduce the controversial reform after the 2008 elections, according to the daily.
Currently, bullfights end with a 'coup de grace' when the bullfighter kills the bull by sticking his sword into the back of its neck. Skillful bullfighters finish the animal with one thrust, but many need to wound the bull several times.
Narbona said she wanted to follow the example of neighbouring Portugal, where the bull is not killed in front of spectators, but taken to a slaughterhouse after the bullfight.
The government did not want to end bullfights, but only to reduce the bloodshed and the suffering of the animal, she explained.
Spain was finding it increasingly difficult to defend its bullfighting tradition within the European Union, Narbona pointed out, stressing the importance of a growing animal rights movement.
Spain's bullfights have come under strong criticism at the European Parliament.
The government is in the process of passing tougher legislation on animal rights, but it does not concern bullfights.
There is little public criticism of bullfights in Spain except for the north-eastern Catalonia region, where Barcelona and some 20 other municipalities have declared themselves 'anti-bullfight,' often closing bullrings.
Spaniards and tourists spend an estimated one billion euros (1.3 billion dollars) a year on bullfighting tickets. The industry creates tens of thousands of jobs, the bullfighting lobby argues.
Bullfighting is a prestigious profession, with top matadors being celebrities comparable to movie stars.
People who eat meat or wear leather 'do not have the moral authority to ban bullfights,' commentator Javier Villan argued.
Spanish animal rights campaigners have earlier proposed Portuguese-style bullfights as a compromise solution to the conflict between them and the bullfighting lobby.
They have also urged the authorities to change rules such as sticking 9-centimetre-long darts into the bull's neck during the bullfight.
Critics, however, say Portuguese-style bullfights only worsen the suffering of the animal, which faces an agonizing wait to be finished off.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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