"Is the party really over?", asked El Periódico this morning, while waiting for the Catalan parliament to deal the death blow to bullfighting in the region. Following months of public debate, elected officials voted, 68 to 55, to put a stop to the practice, effective January, 2012. The law is the result of a campaign led by the animal-rights action group "Prou", and became a popular ballot initiative with the help of 180,000 supporters. The parliament's decision has put an end to a fiery debate that is still raging throughout Spain, opposing animal-rights to notions of cultural identity. As Madrid daily ABCopines on its front page: "They say it's about bulls, but it's really about Spain", maintaining that the Catalan vote is just a case of "opportunistic nationalism" used to "attack cultural practices that are common throughout the rest of Spain".
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