Bullfighting Fans Make Plea for World Heritage Status

Writer Mario Vargas Llosa and screen actress Paz Vega are among a host of celebrities supporting a campaign to gain UNESCO World Heritage status for bullfighting.

The Peruvian novelist and the Spanish actress are just two high-profile names heading a campaign to convince UNESCO to class bullfighting as part of the country’s national heritage.

The pro-bullfighting Platform for the Defense of the National Fiesta hopes that if UNESCO grants the controversial “sport” this status it may protect it from future threats from opponents who want it banned and give it a badly needed financial boost after years of declining popularity in Spain.

Other well-known figures linked to the campaign include songwriter Joaquin Sabina and the playwright Albert Boadella.

But the move to give bullfighting equal status with buildings such as Antonio Gaudi’s unfinished Sagrada Familia in Barcelona or the Alhambra palace in Granada has stirred opposition from the anti-bullfighting lobby.

Anti-bullfighting campaigners claim the number of aficionados attending La Corrida has been falling steadily in recent years. They also point to mounting political moves within Spain against what is still regarded as a sport, but which attracts widespread condemnation from outside the country.