Spain’s Battle for the Bull

Two sides are sharpening their swords in Spain. Between them, half-tonne bulls. One side wants to kill them in the name of culture, the other to save them in the name of animal rights. It is an age-old contest but the balance of power is changing. Spain’s economic crisis has hit bullfighting hard. And municipal elections in May brought to power a number of left-wing parties bent on stopping funding for bullfights or even banning them altogether. Spain's national bullfighting association has warned that the tradition is in crisis. This programme goes to the rings and ranches where livelihoods are under threat, and asks what the battle for the bull says about contemporary Spain.

(Photo: A novillero or junior bullfighter, faces up to a bull at the ring in Cuellar, North of Madrid)