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Andalucia is preparing a major new push to protect and promote bullfighting, with plans to make it easier to stage events in towns and locations that don’t have a permanent bullring.

 

The regional government says a new strategy will be ready during the first quarter of 2027 and will aim to defend bullfighting from what it describes as political attacks, while also highlighting its importance to tourism and employment.

 

One of the most noticeable changes could see temporary or portable bullrings allowed in many more locations. Officials believe these could eventually act as a starting point for towns that go on to build permanent bullrings of their own.

 

First Vice President Antonio Sanz announced the plans during the traditional Goyesca bullfight in Ronda, Málaga, where he made it clear that the regional government intends to put its support firmly behind the spectacle.

 

"Andalucia is a bullfighting region, and so is its government," Sanz told reporters, adding that the new strategy would be designed to protect the tradition while also boosting its economic impact.

 

The proposed changes will include simplifying the procedures for holding events in portable bullrings, although the government stressed that health, safety and animal welfare requirements will remain in place.

 

Bullfighting’s television audiences are another point being highlighted by the government. Regional broadcaster RTVA is expected to show more than 60 events this year, compared with 53 last year. Some broadcasts have attracted particularly large audiences, with peak viewing figures reaching around one in four television viewers in Andalucia.

 

Sanz argued that the figures demonstrate the continuing popularity of bullfighting in the region and rejected suggestions that the tradition is in decline.

 

The new strategy will also look at protecting the fighting bull and the pastureland where the animals are raised. The government says it will be drawn up following discussions with the different sectors involved before being presented next year.

 

For supporters of bullfighting, the plans represent a significant commitment from the Andalucian government to the future of the tradition. For its critics, the prospect of making bullfighting easier to organise and taking it to more locations is likely to reignite the debate over its place in modern Spain.

 

 

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