The end of the bullfight in the south? The “question of becoming” of Spanish shows in which a bullfight (or matador) bullfighter in France “is posed” for economic reasons considers Wednesday the Regional Chamber of Occitania accounts in a report relating to their structural lack of profitability and the modesty of the public supports from which they benefit.
Disped by defenders of animal welfare, corrida should not be confused with the “Landes” in the southwest of the country, nor with the “Camargue races”, present in the Southeast, where the bulls (or cowhide) used are not put to death.
Entry by a request from the public, the Regional Chamber of Accounts (CRC) checked six Occitan municipalities of various sizes welcoming bullfights: Nîmes and Béziers in Hérault, Vic-Fezensac in Gers, Céret in the Pyrénées-Orientales and Saint-Gilles and Bellegarde in the Gard.
These Occitan communes do not directly organize Spanish Tauromachy shows, but bring them support in various forms (grants, free provision of arenas, etc.). These aids “nevertheless remain modest, up to 19,000 euros per year on average per municipality”, underlines the report.
A deficit activity
The organization of organization of bullfights, structurally in deficit [la billetterie ne couvrant pas les frais]therefore rests in Occitania on “private structures”, the number of which also only reduces economic difficulties. “The recurring deficits released in recent years by the Spanish Tauromachie shows organizers ultimately raise the question of their future,” said financial magistrates.
An essential figure in the organization of bullfights in France and Spain, the Nîmes Simon Casas was heard in early June under the police custody as part of a preliminary survey on possible financial offenses. In its report, the CRC of Occitania also looked at the “ferias”, popular festivals “which generally include bullfighting manifestations, but are not limited to this”.
These demonstrations, which can bring together hundreds of thousands of people receive significant support from the municipalities and their benefits are “significant” for the territory. But the part played by bullfighting “remains weak”, estimates the regional chamber of accounts.
