Madrid, March 14 (RHC-teleSUR), -- Thousands of people took to the streets in Spain Sunday to protest against a number of city governments cracking down on the traditional but controversial sport of bullfighting amid subsidy cuts and bans.

“The bullfighting world is aware of the problem and maltreatment we are suffering at the hands of a part of the political class,” famous fighter Jose Antonio Morante Camacho, known as Morante de la Puebla, told the crowds in Valencia City according to The UK's Guardian newspaper.

Spain’s new leftist party Podemos scored the mayoral seats in Madrid and Valencia last year and have introduced new subsidy cuts on the sport in both cities as they argue the money could be better spent on education and health instead of the sport.

But supporters of the sport say the practice is a key element of cultural expression in Spain. Others see the game, in which a fighter battles and kills a bull, as inhumane.

The debate has polarized Spanish society and comes as the European Parliament approved a resolution against using farm subsidies to raise cattle for bullfighting.