Palma's Coliseu Balear prepares for a controversial milestone on August 7th. It will be the second bullfight in the Balearics admitting minors since the legal reform pushed through by regional president Marga Prohens (PP) with Vox's indispensable support. A €9 children's ticket promotion has sparked public alarm over tactics targeting young audiences to renew interest in this violent spectacle. This contrasts sharply with Palma's designation as a "Child-Friendly City" – a title championed by left-wing parties and animal rights groups as an ethical standard in this cultural battle.

Recent history shows political pendulum swings. In 2017, Francina Armengol's (PSOE) government banned minors from Balearic bullrings citing child protection. Eight years later, in October 2024, the regional parliament approved amendments to Article 12 of the Animal Protection Law with PP and Vox votes. The new rules permit under-16s entry when accompanied by adults and require organizers to display "visible notices" about the spectacle's nature.

For Vox, led in this crusade by deputy Jorge Campos, this represents a "triumph of culture and freedom". Campos not only celebrates the measure but demands more: authorization of portable bullrings and official cultural heritage status for bullfighting. "We're proud to have helped restore children's access", he stated, citing historical precedents like Mallorca's bull events since 1230.

The PP defended the adult-supervision amendment as a "balanced approach". Cristina Gil, PP deputy, argued that "minors are active subjects" who "will decide when mature", questioning the left: "They endorse children's autonomy regarding sexuality or life choices, but not bullfighting attendance". The PSIB-PSOE dismissed this as hypocrisy: "However they spin it, bullfighting lacks popular support here. Madrid might buy Vox's folkloric ideology, but this is pure political bargaining for budgets", retorted socialist deputy Irantzu Fernández.

Aïda Gascón, director of AnimaNaturalis Spain, expressed outrage: "Promoting children's tickets to watch animal torture and killing constitutes educational and ethical aberration". 

Therefore, AnimaNaturalis urges mass sending of this letter to President Marga Prohens (PP), calling for reflection on bullfighting's future in the Balearics and immediate measures to protect children and animals.

"Palma calls itself a Child-Friendly City yet invites children to watch living beings stabbed to death. Where is the real protection?" added Gascón. "Tradition must never justify cruelty. If it did, we'd still have slavery or death duels. Do we take children to see such 'heritage'?".

Beyond political trenches, the ethical core divides opinion: Can tradition override child protection? Marta Carrió (Més per Mallorca deputy) summarized starkly in parliament: "Would we defend parents letting children smoke claiming it's harmless? Or taking them to casinos? Bullfighting isn't about freedom but safeguarding psychological integrity".

"Studies like those from the Coordinator of Child Abuse Prevention Professionals clearly show violence exposure causes trauma and desensitization. How explain to a child not to hit their dog if they applaud bullfighters stabbing animals? This moral schizophrenia confuses ethical development", argued Gascón.

No scientific evidence proves bullfighting violence exposure harmless for children. Citing European studies, experts highlight risks of desensitization to suffering and reinforcement of aggressive behaviors. 

"When children watch bulls die in the arena, they don't learn culture – they learn that dominating the vulnerable is legitimate. Is this the lesson we want for new generations? AnimaNaturalis will tirelessly work to repeal this law, restoring the Balearics as a child protection benchmark, not a regressive example", stated Gascón. "Let's teach children to respect life, not applaud its destruction. Only then can we build ethics strong enough to reject violence disguised as tradition".

The August 7th bullfight is merely one episode. The culture war, however, is far from over. With a #NotMyCulture Popular Legislative Initiative underway and growing international pressure, bullfighting's future in the Balearics remains uncertain. Today, spotlight falls on those children whose eyes watching the stabbed bull pose society's most uncomfortable question: Are we protecting their childhood, or traumatizing their capacity for compassion? The answer will define not just bullfighting's future, but the very humanity we aim to build.