Bullfighting in Catalonia is now history, after a regional ban, but the beautiful old bullrings have been put to good use by architects and developers

Ernest Hemingway, an aficionado of Spanish bullfighting, predicted that la corrida would at some point face opposition. According to him, "anything capable of arousing passion in its favour will surely raise as much passion against it".

In Catalonia, such counter-passion has dominated public discourse over the past decade, resulting in a regional ban of the "sport" in September last year. "Tortura ni es art, ni es cultura! [Torture is neither art nor culture]" was the slogan of the animal rights initiative Prou! (prou.cat), which collected 180,000 signatures on a petition instrumental in achieving the ban.

However, perhaps the most important factor was simply: ni es catalan (neither is it Catalan). Indigenous to Spain, bullfighting has always been met with secessionist resentment in Catalonia, and this was one of the reasons for declining interest in the sport.

Many arenas, seemingly pre-empting the prohibition, were demolished years before the ban, for lack of funding and interest. Here is what has happened to the rest:

Las Arenas

The ample bullring on Barcelona's Plaça d'Espanya fell into disrepair in the 1990s. In 2000, Richard Rogers started transforming it into a shopping and leisure centre, which opened in March last year. The neo-Mudéjar facade – a modernist, ornate style typical for Spanish bullrings – was entirely preserved and lifted above street level to create additional space. A dish 100m in diameter was added on top of the arena to form a public roof terrace, which has become popular with locals and tourists, offering 360-degree views of the city (arenasdebarcelona.com).

Tarraco Arena Plaça

The 32m–high bullring in Tarragona was renovated in 2006 for an estimated €18m. The transformation, revealed in 2010, is not as structurally impressive as Rogers's. It is a more modest and surprisingly fitting fusion of old and new – with its convertible, futuristic roof, it looks like a space ship. The arena currently hosts concerts, sports events and, most importantly, the annual Castells competition where "castellers" compete to build the biggest human pyramid (tap.cat/cast).

Olot and Figueres

With the recession hitting north-eastern Catalonia hard, plans to make use of the smaller bullrings in Olot and in Salvador Dali's hometown of Figueres have been abandoned. Dating back to 1859, the arena in Olot – built from black volcanic stone – is the oldest in Catalonia. Visitors can go inside only during the Festes del Tura (festesdeltura.olot.cat) in September, when it is open for a form of correbous – traditional Catalan running with bulls.

La Monumental

Barcelona's majestic bullfighting temple, an emblem of neo-Mudéjar architecture, was given its facade by Domènec Sugrañes i Gras, a friend and disciple of Antoni Gaudi, in 1914.

It was here that José Tomás, currently Spain's most celebrated matador, killed two bulls in the last Catalan bullfight, in September 2011. Since then, La Monumental has lain unused. Spanish architect Xavier Vilalta has proposed turning it into an eco-centre with offices, environmental laboratories, a beach volleyball court and organic shops: "A space dedicated to life and open to the public, as opposed to an arena dedicated to the destruction of life, open for only 15 days a year."

Music to environmentalists' ears, most likely, but probably a preposterous thought for Hemingway.