The residents of a small town in central Spain are taking part in a referendum this weekend to decide whether their annual bullfighting festival should be cancelled, the BBC’s Steve Kingstone reports.

Like many small towns in Spain, Manzanares el Real considers the annual bull fight to be part of its DNA.

But the price of 120,000 euros (£112,000, $160,000) meant the cost of staging the festival this year would eat up a quarter of the municipal budget for culture, sport and social services.

In a letter sent to 6,000 homes, the town’s mayor said that if the event went ahead it would be at the expense of basic services like street cleaning.

Residents have now voted by post on whether to keep, scrap or scale down the event.

The votes will be counted over the weekend by a public notary.

The mayor has stressed that the referendum is purely a response to the economic crisis and not an objection to bull fighting on ethical grounds. (Via BBC)

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