Last bullfight in Barcelona sells out as Spain marks end of 600 years of history

It was the end of more than 600 years of history. On Sunday evening, amid the cheers of fans and the bloody death throes of fighting bulls, Barcelona hosted its last-ever bullfight.

As dusk fell in the Catalan capital, sequin-clad local matador Serafín Marín dispatched the last of six bulls on the sand of the packed La Monumental bullring – where touts had been offering tickets at eight times their original price.

With bullfighting banned in Catalonia as of next year – and with Sunday'sfight marking the end of the season in Barcelona – no Spanish fighting bull will be killed in the city in the name of sport or art for the foreseeable future.

Supporters denounced the ban as an infringement of civil liberties. Opponents declared it an enlightened move away from mindless barbarity.

"We have won the war, but today we will lose a battle as six animals will die," said a 32-year-old protester who gave only her first name, Montserrat. "They are pigs," said Antonio, 70, an elegant white-suited fan, pointing to the small crowd of animal rights protesters gathered outside La Monumental.

Either way, it was a historic moment. An 18,000-strong crowd packed into the stands to watch the matadors in their shiny "suits of lights" step out for the last time to the sound of trumpets and a band playing pasodoble tunes.

There was huge demand for tickets from those keen to witness the end, while some fans allowed inside dug up handfuls of sand to take home with them as souvenirs.

"I have been queueing here since Thursday and have slept outside three nights running," said Jordi Piqué, who snapped up one of the few remaining tickets sold at the gate on Sunday morning.

Although bullfighting has been on the decline in Catalonia for decades, Barcelona once hosted major fights.

It was a sign of the dwindling local popularity of what Spaniards call their "national fiesta" that architect Richard Rogers had already turned the city's other major bullring, Las Arenas, into a shopping mall.

Critics of the ban blamed the hand of Catalan nationalism. Deputies in the local parliament, they said, had voted it through purely because bullfighting was emblematic of Spain and they wanted to differentiate Catalonia from the rest of the country.

"The parliament banned bullfighting because it is a Spanish fiesta, not to protect animals," Marín told El Mundo newspaper. Last night he and the other bullfighters were greeted with cries of "Liberty! Liberty!" and chants against Catalan nationalism.

But activists and many locals said the ban reflected the sensitivity of locals to the needless suffering of animals in the name of entertainment.

"We are glad that the torturing of bulls in Catalan bullrings is over," said anti-bullfight protester Aïda Gascón.

The first recorded bullfight in Barcelona was in 1387. In 1835 an angry crowd of fans rioted, burning down local monasteries and convents.

Thousands of bulls have died on the sand of La Monumental, a neo-mudejar style building decorated with white and blue tiles, since it was built in 1915. Eight bullfighters have reportedly also died after being gored here.

Spanish kings, the fascist dictator General Francisco Franco and regional Catalan presidents like Lluís Companys are among those to have been guests of honour here.

José Tomás, a bullfighter loved by artists and leftwing intellectuals, was the star of a bill that included Marín and Juan Mora. The three bullfighters killed two bulls each.

Tomás lived up to his reputation as a hero to Barcelona bullfight fans with his first bull – being awarded the gory trophy of the bull's ears as cheering fans waved white handkerchiefs to express admiration.

Later he and Marín were both carried out of the ring on the shoulders of fans who will now have to travel out of Catalonia to see them fight. The nearest working major bullrings are in the south of France and the neighbouring regions of Aragon or Valencia.

A taxidermist has already been asked to preserve the head of the last bull to be killed. Other remains were set to be sold in butcher's shops – where the meat of fighting bulls, or toros bravos, which live a free-range existence before they die, is prized by some clients.

La Monumental, which has also hosted concerts by The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, is expected to receive planning permission for a change of use.

Among the projects proposed for the site are an indoor market, a block of luxury apartments and a mosque financed by Dubai.

In the blood

Although the origins of bullfighting may stretch back to the gladiators and wild beasts in Roman amphitheatres, the contemporary fight started in Spain in the early 18th century. Horseback bullfights had been popular in medieval times, but in 1726 matador Francisco Romero began fighting on foot with a cape and a sword – sparking a new fashion. Rings were built to prevent fighter or bull getting cornered, with the oldest standing example the late 18th century La Maestranza, in Seville.

Matador Juan Belmonte, who shot himself in 1962, is credited with founding the modern school, drawing the bull dangerously close to his body with the cape.

Daredevil fighters like Belmonte helped fuel popular enthusiasm for the fight and fascinated foreigners, with writer Ernest Hemingway displaying his obsession in Death in the Afternoon, The Sun Also Rises and The Dangerous Summer.

By the mid-20th century successful bullfighters were stars, and millions watched matadors like Manuel Benítez, El Cordobés on television.

Seen as an art form rather than a sport by fans, bullfighting is also popular in southern France and some South American countries. The biggest ring, seating 48,000 people, is in Mexico City. But in Spain the number of fights has fallen by a third over the past three years as the residential construction bubble burst and Spanish town halls, which funded many fights, lost income from building licences.

Some 1,700 fights were registered in 2010 – and more than 7,000 bulls were put to the sword. At least 500 farms, including a handful in Catalonia, rear the bulls.

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