Bull fighting fans in the Balearics yesterday welcomed the government's decision to agree to the demands of Spain's matadors, breeders and other players in Spain's $4.5 billion a year bullfighting industry who had threatened to strike over government restrictions designed to protect consumers from mad cow disease. The feared strike would have disrupted Majorca's bullfighting season with some of the highlight bullfights taking place over the next ten days. The restrictions prohibited an age-old practice of cutting up slain bulls and selling the meat to butchers. It demanded either monetary compensation or measures to allow sales to resume. Yesterday, the agriculture ministry said it would resume payments to fight promoters who can no longer sell bulls' meat.
Good news for bullfighting world and fans