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The Netherlands

Tourism

At the time of the founding of CAS International, in 1993, it was normal that Dutch travel agencies offered excursions to bullfights in their travel packages to Spain. This context is the base of our existence: a group of Spaniards requested the foundation of CAS because they wanted to end the flow of tourists from the Netherlands to bullfights. Since our founding we managed to convince all Dutch travel agencies to stop promoting bullfighting and end selling excursions to bullfights. The number of Dutch tourists that visit bullfights has declined drastically. We still inform Dutch tourists in several ways.

European Subsidies

In Spain, Portugal and France bullfights often receive subsidies on municipal, provincial and national level. Also from the European Union level money flows into the bullfighting industry in the form of subsidies for the rearing of cattle destined for food production. Spain can decide how much money goes to which livestock. We do not know exactly how much money annually is allocated to the farms where fighting bulls are bred, but we do know that they received these grants because the meat of fighting bulls is consumed; therefore this is seen as a part of the meat industry.

This implies that Europeans like  the Dutch, Belgians, Germans, etc indirectly pay for the maintenance of bullfighting through taxes. In 2013 the Dutch government unanimously decided to discuss this topic at the European Union Parliament. The parliamentary questions and the subsequent vote on July 4 were an initiative of the Party for the Animals with the help of CAS International. On October 28 2015, the European Parliament voted in favor of the end to European subsidies that flow to the bullfighting industry. In 2018, Anja Hazekamp, ​​MEP of the Dutch Party for the Animals, submitted an amendment to amend the Common Agricultural Policy so that no EU subsidies will be used for bullfighting. Again the European Parliament voted in favour of this amendment. The next step will be the European Ministers of Finance taking a position on the European subsidies that end up at the bullfighting sector.

Sign the petition of CAS International to stop the flow of European subsidies to the bullfighting industry.

Are you also against subsidizing bullfighting? Become a sponsor or make a donation!