There are no sacred cows, in Catalunya at least. Spanish MEPs from the Catalan region have called for the European Commission to ensure that funds are not directed from the Common Agriculture Policy to benefit bullfighting in Spain. MEPs Ana Miranda, Raúl Romeva and Ramón Tremosa were joined by Spanish MP Alfred Bosch, in voicing opposition to the use of more than €500m to prop up a traditional industry which they argue would otherwise be bankrupt.
Responding to the issue in March with a written parliamentary answer, Dacian Cioloş, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, stated: “…from the 2003 CAP reform, the support under Pillar I has been decoupled from production and therefore, by definition, is granted per eligible hectare to farmers holding payment entitlements. Consequently, as there is no link to production — let alone a link to the final destination of any bulls reared by the farmer — there can be no legal provision preventing support to be paid to breeders, whose bulls are sold on for bullfighting.”
A red rag to raging MEPs.
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