Could this be the start of the end?

The Spanish town of Villafranca de los Caballeros used to spend up to 18,000 euros per year to stage a bullfight as part of the local fiesta.

Now the council will be voting whether to keep the tradition or spend the money on books and supplies for the school children.

The new socialist council fully expect to win the vote and say that they even have the backing of people who love to watch bullfights.

In these hard pressed times, parents find it difficult to find the money for essential school supplies and so the proposal makes a lot of sense.

Throughout the country, mainly left wing councils, are saying that it is a waste of public money to stage bullfights. It seems that only the PP are in favour of continuing the tradition. Orihuela council recently voted to ban circuses and bullfights in the city on the basis that both involve cruelty to animals.

The proposal to run courses in vocational schools teaching young people the skills of bullfighting has met with widespread opposition, not just from animal rights groups but from a swathe of the  population who consider the practice anarchic and degrading to life in modern Spain.