Simon Hunter
CHILDREN are set to be allowed back into bullfights in Mallorca, as the regional parliament is due to vote on a proposal tabled by far-right Vox and supported by the conservative Partido Popular (PP).
The measure was previously agreed between the two parties within a confidence and supply deal they signed after inconclusive elections. The Partido Popular is governing in the region with the support of Vox and a small party called Sa Unio.
The popularity of bullfighting has steadily been on the wane in recent years in Spain, but is still considered to be a vote-winner for right-wing parties, and is a particular focus of Vox.
The entrance of minors to bullfights on the Balearic Island has been banned for seven years, but that restriction is set to be overturned tomorrow, Tuesday, when the parliament votes on the measure.
Read more: Spain cancels this year’s national bullfighting prize that sees a top matador win €30,000
The PP and Vox agreed a 110-point document of planned policies ahead of the investiture vote that saw PP politician Marga Prohens become regional premier. Overturning the ban on minors at bullfights was one of them.
According to Spanish press reports, the agreement will see signs placed outside bullrings that warn that the spectacle can be upsetting for spectators, while signs stating that minors cannot enter will be removed.
In April, the Franz Weber Foundation, which was created in 1975 by the environmental campaigner of the same name, warned the PP that allowing children to access bullfighting events goes against the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child, a treaty that was ratified by Spain nearly 40 years ago.
Today, Monday, the Foundation said it would take the rule change to the ombudsman in Palma in a bid to get it reversed.
