Spanking banned in Costa Rica

I am not a spanker but if I was I would not want someone telling me that I couldn't discipline my child the way I saw fit. Legislation in Costa Rica has just been passed barring parents from spanking their children. The bill outlaws all forms of physical or emotional punishment or mistreatment of children. Progressive? I'm not sure. I do think that there are different ways to teach children about respect and independence. I choose not to spank because the worst part of a spanking for me was never the actual spanking, it was having to go get the paddle. It was those few seconds before being punished that I remember most. It was the liberties that were taken away, not the physical pain that I remember.