Reuters Soccer Blog

Bullfighting banned in Catalonia — So how will David Villa celebrate now?

Now that the Spanish region of Catalonia has banned bullfighting, what will happen to striker David’s Villa goal-scoring celebrations?

Villa struck a matador’s pose after he scored in Spain’s World Cup games in South Africa – you can see an example on FIFA’s official site here — raising eyebrows by some in Catalonia who viewed it as a gesture of support for the “fiesta nacional”.

He’s now moving from Valencia to Barcelona but the Catalonian regional parliament this week voted to ban bullfighting, raising an interesting, if not entirely serious question: Will Villa continue his homage to la corrida at the Nou Camp and risk upsetting Catalans?

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos got into trouble last year for leaving a Real Madrid match to go and watch his matador friend Alejandro Talavante at a bullfight, still wearing his Real suit.