Latest analyses of the first-tier places for the 2026 season

The Directorate of Games and Spectacles has decided to carry out random post-mortem analyses on the horns of bulls during the 2026 bullfighting season in first-class bullrings in the Basque Country, to ensure the integrity of the spectacle and the rights of the spectators. The decision was made via resolution reference 2026/3710, signed by director Nerea Alday Garate on March 11, 2026, and published in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV) on August 27, 2026, in issue number 163.

The resolution stems from the obligations of the Directorate of Games and Spectacles of the Department of Security: to be responsible for the integrity of spectacles held in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country and to defend the rights of the spectators. As a precedent, the Advisory Board for Bullfighting Matters of the Basque Country had already analyzed the appropriateness of these analyses in its meeting on February 25, 2015, and the results obtained in previous seasons have served to confirm the decision.

Legal basis

The resolution cites article 8.b) of Law 10/2015 (of December 23, on Public Spectacles and Leisure Activities), which establishes the right of spectators to see the spectacle in its entirety. Likewise, it is based on articles 55.10 and 57.10 of the Regulation of Bullfighting Spectacles of the Basque Country, which explicitly authorize the Directorate to order such analyses, extending also to the case of picadors’ horses.

Conditions for the analyses

The analyses will be carried out in first-class bullrings and must meet these specific conditions:

• One bull per corrida will be the candidate for sampling.
• Samples will be taken only from the horns.
• They will be male bulls (machos) four years of age or older, fighting on foot.
• The taking of samples will be decided by a transparent draw, every morning.

The draw will be conducted in the presence of the presidency of the plaza or spectacle, the representative of the livestock farms, the organizer, the livestock farm veterinarian, and the plaza’s representation. The mechanism consists of: two balls will be placed in an opaque bag, one red and the other white; if the red one is drawn, samples will be taken, and if the white one is drawn, they will not. If it is decided to take samples, a second draw will determine which bull it will be, using numbered balls.

Procedure and consequences

After the bull is killed, the sampling and analyses will be carried out according to the Order of August 3, 2015, which regulates the procedure for taking biological samples in bullfighting spectacles and the accreditation of laboratories. If the bull is for human consumption, the conditions of Royal Decree 1086/2020 must be met, and the organizer or the owner of the plaza must have a person with the necessary knowledge to prepare the bull until its death.

The resolution will be notified to ANOET (National Association of Bullfight Organizers), the breeders’ association, the presidencies and owners of the bullrings, the livestock services of the provincial councils, and the known representation of the ring. Since the resolution does not exhaust the administrative route, an appeal may be filed within one month before the deputy minister of security of the Department of Security.

The measures aim to strengthen transparency and the quality of the spectacle, protecting the right of spectators to fully view the event under the announced conditions. Bullrings and organizers must adapt to the new procedure throughout the taurine season.

Fuente: Official Gazette of the Basque Country, number 163, August 27, 2026, Other Provisions – Department of Security (official reference: 2026/3710).