The European Parliament has voted to end agricultural subsidies being used to support bullfighting in Spain.
The subsidies are worth more than €140 million a year.
On Wednesday the motion to amend the EU budget was carried by 438 MEPs out of 687. It stated that Common Agricultural Policy money “should not be used for the financing of lethal bullfighting activities”, noting that such funding “is a clear violation of the European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes”.
Portuguese bullfighting has been spared, as the bulls are not killed in the ring in front of the crowd.
For Spain, it means that subsidies will not be given to estates were bulls are bred for fighting. A 2013 report from Spanish MEPs concluded that “without such backing, [bullfighting] would probably be on the brink of financial collapse".
Bullfighting was already under fire in certain parts of the country. Catalonia banned the fights in 2011 and a host of newly elected mayors have threatened the removal of subsidies in order to divert the money to schools.
A spokesperson for the European Parliament said that the EU does not subsidise bullfighting directly; decisions on “cultural activities” must be taken on a national level.
“The passage on bullfighting is a strong statement of intent on behalf of the European Parliament rather than a new approach taken by the EU,” the spokesman said.
