Catalonia bullfighting ban
Court Decision
In Effect
October 20, 2016
Summary
On 20 October 2016, Spain’s Tribunal Constitucional (Constitutional Court), sitting in plenary session, issued Sentencia 177/2016, resolving constitutional challenge 7722-2010 brought by fifty senators of the Grupo Parlamentario Popular against article 1 of Catalonia’s Law 28/2010 of 3 August 2010. Law 28/2010 had modified article 6 of the consolidated Catalan Animal Protection Law (Decree-Legislative 2/2008) to prohibit bullfights and bullfighting shows involving the death of the bull and certain bullfighting techniques (suertes de lidia) in Catalonia. The ban had entered into force on 1 January 2012; the last bullfight in Catalonia took place on 25 September 2011 at Barcelona’s La Monumental bullring.
The Tribunal Constitucional declared the Catalan prohibition null and unconstitutional on the basis that the Spanish State holds exclusive competence over the protection, regulation, and preservation of bullfighting as cultural heritage — established through national legislation including the 2013 law designating bullfighting as part of Spain’s cultural heritage and subsequent 2015 heritage provisions. The judgment holds that Catalonia may regulate the conditions under which bullfights are held within its territory but may not suppress the activity when bullfighting has been designated as national cultural heritage under State law. The ruling was published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE-A-2016-11124) on 24 November 2016, at which point the annulled Catalan provision ceased to have legal force.
The competence interpretation has Spain-wide implications: by asserting State exclusive authority over defining and preserving bullfighting as cultural heritage, the judgment conditions future attempts by Autonomous Communities to impose comprehensive prohibitions on bullfighting where State law protects the practice as cultural heritage. Despite the annulment, sources through at least July 2020 indicate no bullfights were held in Catalonia following the ruling; Catalan authorities stated publicly that bullfighting would not resume, reflecting political and administrative choices rather than continuation of the annulled legal prohibition.
Background Context
The Catalan Parliament approved Law 28/2010 in July 2010 as an amendment to its animal protection legislation. The constitutional challenge was filed by fifty PP senators immediately following its adoption. During the period between the filing of the challenge (2010) and the Court’s decision (2016), the national government under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s Partido Popular adopted legislation designating bullfighting as part of Spain’s intangible cultural heritage — framing that became central to the Tribunal Constitucional’s competence reasoning. At the time the Catalan ban entered into force, only one bullring (La Monumental, Barcelona) was regularly active for bullfighting events in the region.
System Impact
Direction
Neutral / Administrative
Type
Alters Legal Basis
Significance
Moderate
The Tribunal Constitucional issued Sentencia 177/2016 on 20 October 2016; it was published in BOE-A-2016-11124 on 24 November 2016, at which point the annulled Catalan provision ceased to have legal force. The constitutional challenge (recurso de inconstitucionalidad 7722-2010) was filed by fifty PP senators against the Catalan Parliament’s Law 28/2010. The Court’s reasoning cited national cultural heritage legislation adopted during 2013–2015 as establishing State competence over the essential elements of bullfighting. No bullfights have taken place in Catalonia since the ruling through at least July 2020; Catalan authorities have stated bullfighting will not return. The judgment is cited in legal commentary as a precedent on cultural heritage competence and its interaction with animal protection legislation. No subsequent Constitutional Court decision modifying or overturning Sentencia 177/2016 is documented in sources consulted.
Anticipated Effects
If organizers choose to operate under the restored legal permissibility, bullfighting shows including the killing of bulls could resume in Catalonia under State cultural heritage and public spectacle regulation and any compatible regional regulatory provisions.
If applied to similar regional prohibitions in other Autonomous Communities, the competence interpretation could condition future legislative attempts to comprehensively ban bullfighting where State law designates bullfighting as protected cultural heritage.
Whether bullfights have resumed in Catalonia after July 2020, or whether other Autonomous Communities have tested the limits of the competence framework established by this ruling, is not established in available sources.
Significance Rationale
Assigned Neutral / Administrative (impact direction) because, despite annulling the regional prohibition and restoring legal permissibility of bullfighting in Catalonia, available sources document no resumption of bullfights in Catalonia following the ruling through at least July 2020. The exploitation system’s operational scale in Catalonia has not changed — it remains at zero bullfights since 2011. The ruling alters legal permissibility without producing a documented change in exploitation scale, reach, or continuity within the period covered by available sources.
Assigned Alters Legal Basis (impact type) because the primary mechanism is the annulment of a regional statutory prohibition and the clarification of State exclusive competence over bullfighting as cultural heritage — structurally changing the legal framework governing what Autonomous Communities may prohibit in relation to State-designated cultural heritage practices.
Assigned Moderate significance because the ruling’s competence interpretation extends beyond Catalonia to all Autonomous Communities, establishing that regions cannot impose comprehensive prohibitions on practices designated as national cultural heritage, and thereby shaping the legal landscape for future regional animal protection legislation. However, no documented operational change in bullfighting scale is evidenced.
Impact direction is Neutral / Administrative; the trajectory sentence is not applicable.
Key Actors
The Tribunal Constitucional (plenary session) issued Sentencia 177/2016. Fifty senators of the Grupo Parlamentario Popular in the Spanish Senate brought constitutional challenge 7722-2010. The Parliament of Catalonia’s Law 28/2010 was the provision subject to review. The national government under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy adopted the cultural heritage legislation cited by the Court. La Monumental in Barcelona was the principal bullring affected by the Catalan ban.
Notice an inaccuracy or omission?
If you believe information on this page is incorrect, incomplete, or missing important context, you may submit a suggested correction for review.