To kill or not kill? A small Portuguese village is at the center of a debate between traditional customs and animal welfare rights. Barrancos, a village of some 1,500 residents barely a kilometer from the border with Spain, is one of two villages in the country where killing bulls during bullfights is allowed.

Putting a bull to death has not been practiced in the country since the late nineteenth century. A law passed in 1928 put an outright ban on it. 

But Barrancos defies the law. It is one of only two villages to whom Parliament gave an exception in 2002 to maintain the custom in the name of respect for local traditions.

"There are those who are fans -- and those who aren't," said 18-year-old student Leonor Burgos, who watched the spectacle on the church square, which was converted into a bullring for the southeastern village's annual festival.

"You have to respect traditions and culture," she added. 

"To have obtained an exception to the law is just huge," says matador Nuno Casquinha. Clad in a navy blue jacket, he prepared to head into the arena where dozens of spectators waited in wooden stands put up for the occasion.

"It's very satisfying for us," Casquinha said. "We can ply our trade to the full."

But the practice has been described as "anachronism" by opponents while animal welfare groups say it cannot be justified in the name of tradition.

"Animal rights are fundamental," chanted some 30 people during a recent protest outside Lisbon's Campo Pequeno venue. Activists and animal rights groups want to see bullfighting completely banned. 

"There is no justification" said Tania Mesquita, a lawyer active within the PAN animal rights and environmentalist party. Meanwhile, local fans see the corridas, or bullfights, as a pillar of their cultural identity. 

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