Bullfighting
Spain

Despite its slow decrease in popularity among younger generations, bullfighting remains a widespread cultural activity throughout Spain. A 2016 poll reported that 58% of Spaniards aged 16 to 65 opposed bullfighting against 19% who supported it. The support was lower among the younger population, with only 7% of respondents aged 16 to 24 supporting bullfighting, vs. 29% support within 55 to 65 age group. According to the same poll 67% of respondents felt "little to not at all" proud to live in a country where bullfighting was a cultural tradition (84% among 16 to 24 age group).

Between 2007 and 2014, the number of corridas held in Spain decreased by 60%. In 2007 there were 3,651 bullfighting and bull-related events in Spain but by 2018, the number of bullfights had decreased to 1,521, a historic low. A September 2019 Spanish government report showed that only 8% of the population had attended a bull-related event in 2018; of this percentage, 5.9% attended a bullfight while the remainder attended other bull-related events, such as the running of the bulls. When asked to gauge their interest in bullfighting on a scale of 0 through 10, only 5.9% responded with 9–10. A majority of 65% of responded with 0–2; among those aged 15–19, this figure was 72.1%, and for those aged 20–24, it reached 76.4%. With a fall in attendance, the bullfighting sector has come under financial stress, as many local authorities have reduced subsidies because of public criticism.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Spain and the country entered into lockdown in March 2020, all bullfighting events were cancelled indefinitely. In mid-May 2020, the bullfighting industry, alike other sectors of Spanish economy, demanded that the government compensate them for their losses, estimated at €700 million. This prompted outrage, and more than 100,000 people signed a petition launched by AnimaNaturalis urging the government not to rescue "spectacles based on the abuse and mistreatment of animals" with taxpayer money at a time when people were struggling to survive and public finances were already heavily strained. A 29–31 May 2020 YouGov survey commissioned by HuffPost showed that 52% of the 1,001 Spaniards questioned wanted to ban bullfighting, 35% were opposed, 10% did not know and 2% refused to answer. A strong majority of 78% answered that corridas should no longer be partially subsidised by the government, with 12% favoring subsidies and 10% undecided. When asked whether bullfighting was culture or mistreatment, 40% replied that it is mistreatment alone, 18% replied that it is culture alone and 37% replied that it is both. Of the respondents, 53% had never attended a corrida.
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