Almost 40% of the public money for bullfighting in Spain is granted in the Valencian Community, according to research carried out by AnimaNaturalis and CAS International in all municipalities to discover how much funding is allocated to cover these festivals.
Thus, the Valencian Community is "with a difference, the autonomy with a greater concentration in the number of celebrations each year". Specifically, in 2019, 8,623 shows will take place, including 'bulls in the street', 'bulls embattled', 'bulls drowned' or 'bulls at sea', according to an AnimaNaturalis press release.
In fact, 50% of all Valencian municipalities organize some type of bullfighting celebration each year, a figure "much higher" than its neighbor Catalonia, in which only 3% of its municipalities organize bullfighting shows.
Castellón is the province where the most public investment is allocated to bullfighting, with 94% of its municipalities active in the organization and financing of bullfighting. Vall d'Alba, Cabanes and Vila-Real are the three town councils that celebrate the most celebrations and spend the most money on them. Thus, 47% of all the aid delivered in the Valencian Community is distributed in the province of Castellón, with a total estimated amount of 8,782,360 euros, which makes it the province where the most aid is distributed in Spain, according to them. sources.
For its part, according to this research, in the province of Valencia, 41% of its municipalities have a municipal budget for bullfighting celebrations, with Puçol, Lliria, Sagunto, Alcàsser and El Puig de Santa Maria being the municipalities where the most commitment is made to ' bous al carrer'. They account for 38% of all aid from the Valencian Community, with an amount that amounts to 6,067,000 euros, which "makes it the second province that receives the most money in Spain."
In comparative terms, the province of Alicante is the one with the least bullfighting roots: only 26% of its town councils organize celebrations, with Xàbia and Pedreguer being the municipalities where the most commitment is made to 'bous al carrer', with a similar estimated expenditure of 440,000 euros for approximately 40 celebrations, in each municipality. In total, 2,055,915 euros are allocated to this province, which corresponds to 14% of all aid from the Valencian Community, and puts Alicante in fifth place in Spain where the most public money is distributed.
The research reveals that only 22% of Spanish municipalities organize some type of popular festival with bulls every year, most of them concentrated in the Valencian Community, Castilla y León and Castilla La Mancha.
AnimaNaturalis and CAS International have carried out this study by consulting, based on the transparency law, the website of each of the 1,820 municipalities that organize popular festivals with bulls. The estimated figure amounts to a total of 42 million euros in 2019, for carrying out a total of 17,708 celebrations, an amount that remains more or less stable year after year in most municipalities, although some have already reached it. to double this 2023, as is the case of the Fuenlabrada City Council (Madrid).
However, they criticize that although the law requires transparency in the destination of public money in each municipality, only 47% of the city councils contacted responded by complying with the deadlines determined by Law 19/2013. Even after appealing to higher bodies and registering formal protests, the rest have not responded.
For this reason, they point out that although it is "practically impossible" to know the real figure of all the public money that is allocated to the organization of this type of festival, "it cannot be less than 42 million, and that the total cost of these celebrations is rises to 86 million". Therefore, they assure that the real figure of public money given to popular festivals with bulls is in that range.
In this regard, the organizations assure that "there is a lot of obscurantism and a network of figures that is almost impossible to break down, since popular shows with bulls are often part of the patron saint festivals or other festivals of the municipality."
Furthermore, the director of AnimaNaturalis in Spain, Aïda Gascón, points out that public financing also comes from direct and indirect subsidies. "It has been a tedious job, but in the face of shows that generate so much social rejection, we believe that the population has the right to know how much parties based on animal abuse cost us," he claims.
AnimaNaturalis and CAS International assure that the City Councils are covering the expenses "directly and indirectly", and through at least three possible ways: "Starting directly from the municipal budget for festivals, through subsidies to bullfighting clubs, which on many occasions "They are the ones that organize and manage the festivities, or through agreements with associations or companies, to which the entire organization of the major or patron saint festivals is delegated, which also include shows with bulls."
