Lawmakers in Catalonia endorse flaming bull festivals

Lawmakers who banned bullfighting in Spain''s Catalonia region this summer voted on Wednesday to endorse other traditions that have been criticised as cruel to bulls, such as attaching burning sticks to their horns as they chase human thrill seekers.

The vote will only affect the Catalonia region of northeast Spain, but it addresses another manifestation of this country''s timeless fascination with bulls and the testing of people''s bravery with the violent animals.

Besides watching the deadly duel of matador and bull, Spaniards run with bulls in Pamplona every year, spear them to death from horseback in another northern town - neither are in Catalonia - and cordon off town squares to let even children dodge aggressive calves of the kind used to breed top-grade fighter bulls.

In July, Catalonia banned bullfighting on grounds of cruelty, becoming only the second Spanish region to do away with the centuries-old tradition, after the Canary Islands.

Wednesday''s bill - approved by a 114-14 vote, with 5 abstentions - protects other bull-related traditions in Catalonia that activists find repulsive.

Known as ''correbous'' in Catalan, these traditions include attaching short sticks with flaming wax or fireworks to bulls'' horns, then letting the animals run around and chase people, or letting them chase human daredevils by seaside marinas and plunge into the water.

Speaking after the vote, Paco Sancho, a Catalan member of parliament, said they were reluctant to outlaw certain activities that had been enjoyed for centuries.

"I understand that we have to outlaw as little as possible. And in the case of the "correbous" (Catalan for traditions focused around bulls) we need to avoid mistreatment of animals instead of forbidding it. I don''t see the situation as a contradiction," he added.

However around a dozen people who protested outside the parliament disagreed, with one demonstrator labelling the vote as "both surreal and contradictory."

"Two months ago we were all happy because we stopped bullfights. Because to kill and torture an animal shouldn''t constitute any kind of show or public display. And now two months later these same politicians - especially right and left wing nationalists - say that "correbous" are not a way of torturing animals," said one animal rights activist.

Many people in Spain said they find it peculiar that Catalonia didn''t scrap these customs at the same time it banned bullfighting.

The goal of the spectacles is not to harm or kill the bulls, but animal rights activists say the experience is still denigrating and terrifying for the animals and that some of the beasts end up getting burned or even drown during such events.

Catalonia''s dominant party, a centre-right nationalist coalition called Convergence and Union, said the bill - which it sponsored - seeks to fill a legal vacuum by establishing for the first time safety norms and other regulations for these festivals, including measures to protect the bulls themselves.

But the legislation is widely seen as a way to enshrine the customs and protect them against pressure to do away with them.