The European Union spends £37 million a year directly subsidising blood fiestas like the Toro de la Vega and other sports, such as bullfighting. It also ploughs tens of millions of pounds into the towns that host them and has begun renovating dilapidated bullrings. As if that weren’t bad enough, now some MEPs are campaigning to have bullfighting and blood fiestas officially recognised as part of Europe ’s cultural heritage. If this should succeed, then not only will the Toro de la Vega be given an official veneer of respectability, it may eventually become eligible for European arts and cultural funding. ‘We’re all tightening our belts in Britain and yet our money continues to flow into bullfights and blood fiestas across Spain ,’ says Jaqueline Foster, Conservative MEP and vice-president of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals. ‘The Spanish can support these fiestas with their own money, if they want to, but there’s absolutely no way they should be using ours to do so. I have been unable to find a single good reason why we are being forced to pay for these horrible sports.’