26 Sep 2011

Last bullfight held in Barcelona

1:05 pm on 26 September 2011

Bullfighting, a long tradition in the Catalonia district of Spain, is over.

A crowd of 20,000 was at the Monumental bullring in Barcelona to see the final corrida on Sunday.

Touts were charging 1600 euros for tickets, three times their face value.

The last matador to face a bull at the ''corrida'' was Serafin Marin, a Catalan.

Marin, Jose Tomas and Juan Mora, the third matador on the bill, were carried out on the shoulders of the crowd afterwards.

Tomas is considered one of the greatest matadors ever. He was awarded two ears from the first of two bulls that he fought.

Catalonia is the first mainland region of Spain to outlaw bullfighting after about 200,000 people signed a petition against it.

They say bullfighting is barbaric, but the ban is to be challenged in Spain's top court.

Bullfighting is permitted in all other regions of Spain except in the Canary Islands.

Campaigners hope to extend the ban across the country, but they face a far tougher task in traditional bullfighting heartlands like Andalucia and Madrid.