A PROGRAM to repopulate isolated areas of Spain through funding bullfighting has not had the desired success.
The regional government in Cantabria launched another round of grants to cover up to 90% of the cost of bullfights, novilladas (bullfights with young bulls) and other bull-related events in small rural towns said to be at risk of losing population.
Officials argue that cultural events can help bring activity and visibility back to municipalities that are steadily losing residents.
The program, now running for a third consecutive year, offers up to €14,500 per bullfight and €10,000 for novilladas, with a total budget of €41,000.
It is aimed at 41municipalities at risk of depopulation. However, only five towns received the funding in 2024 and four of them were selected again in 2025.
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Cantabria’s Presidency Minister, Isabel Urrutia, described the grants as a ‘resource for revitalising economic and social life’.
She has defended the programme as a practical tool for supporting local traditions while encouraging movement and spending in villages that often struggle to attract visitors outside the summer season.
But figures highlighted by the Franz Weber Foundation (FFW), an animal rights organisation, question whether the subsidies have any meaningful demographic impact at all.
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According to El Pais, The group claims the five municipalities that received aid in 2024 gained a combined total of just four new residents over the last three years, despite the repeated funding.
One of them, Pesaguero, reportedly received the highest level of funding despite losing seven residents between 2023 and 2025, raising further doubts over whether the policy is achieving its goal of tackling depopulation.
Foundation spokesperson Ruben Perez accused the regional government of using depopulation as ‘an excuse to subsidise bullfighting and keep it alive on life support’.
Opposition politicians have also criticised the subsidies. Ainoa Quiñones, spokesperson for the Cantabrian Socialist Party, said the measures showed that the People’s Party government is ‘ignorant of rural life’.
She argued the events do nothing to help people settle permanently, pointing instead to a pattern of repeated spending without lasting demographic results.
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