BARCELONA, Spain, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The parliament of the Spanish region of Catalonia is considering a proposal to ban bullfighting, observers say.
If it does ban bullfighting, it would become the first region in of Spain to do so, the BBC reported.
It said anti-bullfighting activists had collected 180,000 signatures on a petition for their proposal to parliament, in which deputies are asked to add bulls to existing animal protection laws.
Backers told the BBC they are cautiously optimistic that a majority of the Catalonian parliament will support their initiative.
"Bullfighting is about animal rights, it's about cruelty and about a bloody entertainment," said Eric Gallego of the group known as Prou. "We think that we must stop this cruelty because we don't want to be a barbaric society inside Europe."
"It's a very old tradition which should continue," an unidentified woman at a Barcelona bullfighting ring told the BBC. "I'm not a fan, I've never been, but I respect it."
