Matadors gather for final bullfights in Catalonia

Some of Spain’s top matadors are gathering for a final weekend of bullfighting before the blood sport is banned in the north-east Catalonia region.

Top flight “toreros” are on the bill today and tomorrow at the La Monumental arena in Barcelona. They include Jose Tomas, one of the country’s most popular bullfighters.

The ban on the sport takes effect on January 1, but this is the last event of the 2011 season in the Catalan capital.

The conservative, pro-bullfighting newspaper El Mundo ran an analysis by an economist lamenting among other things how much money the city will miss by banning bullfighting.

It published another piece that read like an obituary, with vignettes on matadors who made their names in Catalonia and others – four in La Monumental - who died in the ring.