The Catalan parliament voted to ban bullfighting in an emotional session packed full of deputies, activists and observers, says the KN's Sarah Rainsford in Barcelona.
In the end the vote passed by an absolute majority - a wider margin of victory than animal rights campaigners had dared hope for.
Sixty-eight deputies voted in favour of the ban; 55 were opposed.
"We had three different speeches prepared, and in the end we could read out the one for a big victory," laughed Jordi Casamitjana, who was heavily involved in pushing for this vote.
He admits he had expected a closer call.
"It means the politicians here actually get it. Bullfighting has no place in the 21st Century. I could not hold back my tears," he said.
He was not the only one. As the result was announced, those supporting the ban leapt and shouted for joy. Alongside them, some of the losers cried too - in frustration.
But activists collected 180,000 signatures in order to get this initiative off the ground and into parliament - and they were determined to enjoy the moment.
"I'm over the moon!" enthused Deborah Parris, who worked with the campaign group Prou (Enough, in Catalan), to ban the corrida, as the bullfight is known.
"There is incredible suffering in a bullfight. Six bulls are killed each time, not one, and they are tortured for 20 minutes," she said. "It's not right to pay money to go and watch that kind of cruelty."
