If there are to be bull-runs in the future, they won't be in the streets of Fornalutx. | Miquel À. Cañellas

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As with bullfighting, proposed Balearic legislation will stop short of an outright ban being imposed on the Fornalutx bull-run. Whereas bullfighting will become impossible to stage because of demands to be included in the legislation, measures for the "correbou" are not as restrictive. Nevertheless, these measures are not designed to make it easy to stage.

The mayor of Fornalutx, Antoni Aguiló, says they will mean that the bull-run in the future will be nothing like it has been traditionally. It could even be that a revised correbou has to be held outside Fornalutx. That's because it would have to take place in an enclosed space and not on the streets of the village. The main option would be to use the Sa Bassa municipal finca on the common in Fornalutx, but even this would pose some technical difficulties.

Other measures include prohibiting under-18s from attending and not roping the bull by its horns. There will also be a limit on the number of people who can take part.

Rather like the demands to be made of staging a bullfight, a public safety element will make the cost of the bull-run being in the streets prohibitive. Aguiló explains that the town hall couldn't afford the safety plan that is envisaged, which would include fencing off the whole route of the run.

The mayor is due to meet the environment minister Vicenç Vidal this week and discuss the possible use of Sa Bassa. But he notes that early September, when the correbou is staged as part of the Fornalutx fiestas, coincides with a time when fire risk is at its highest. The environment ministry, via its Ibanat nature agency, has responsibility for fire prevention.