Catalonia spent €800,000 of public money on bull-related events in 2019

Animal rights organizations Anima Naturalis and CAS International have denounced that Catalonia allocated €801,271.24 of public money to bull-related shows in 2019. 

The figure was obtained as part of a study called Cruel Festivals ('Festes cruels'), which investigates the public financing of bull-related events in Spain. 

According to their research, 28 different municipalities in Catalonia (3% of the total) organized 450 events of this type in 2019, while that figure increased to 1,820 towns (22% of the total) across Spain with estimated public subsidies of €42 million – 1.9% of which went to Catalonia.

The study determines that Catalonia is one of the regions with the least bullfighting tradition in Spain as a whole. Of the Catalan towns that organize such festivals, the vast majority are found in the south of the territory, in the areas bordering Valencia and Aragon.

The data was collected by use of the Transparency Law which states that public bodies must give information as to where public money was spent.

The report says that the town of Alfara de Carles spent the most money per inhabitant in 2019, with 376 residents and €39,000 euros spent on 11 different events. The town that spent the most overall was La Ràpita, spending €68,658 on 20 events for its 14,931 inhabitants.

Difficulties in obtaining the data

Those who compiled the study say they contacted the 1,820 municipalities in Spain that organize such events to obtain data on the public money spent but only 47% of councils responded to their requests for information, despite the law demanding transparency.

Additionally, the fact that bull-related festivals are often part of traditional popular festivals can mean that obtaining accurate information is often very difficult, the creators of the report say, as financing comes from various different boards or administrations. 

This makes it "practically impossible" to know the "real" figure of all the public money spent on bull-related events. 

Yet, based on the data they have obtained, they calculate that "it cannot be less" than €42 million in all of Spain.

Bullfighting ban

Bullfighting was been banned in Catalonia in 2010, although that ban did not extend to all bull-related events such as bull-running.

Yet, a law was passed in Spain in 2013 declaring bullfighting to be part of all Spaniards' common historical and cultural heritage, and in 2016, Spain's Constitutional Court overturned the Catalan Parliament ban, arguing the chamber had overstepped its authority.

There still haven't been many bullfights in Catalonia since 2011 for a number of social, cultural, and financial reasons.