This public consultation takes place more than five years after the process began—initiated by a proposal from the Association of Portuguese Bullfighting Clubs (Associação de Tertúlias Tauromáquicas de Portugal)—which had previously led the then-Directorate General for Cultural Heritage to request refinements to the application back in 2022.

“The *Corrida de Toiros* [Bullfight] is the full expression of ‘professional bullfighting’—representing the practice in its institutional form and manifesting through a set of codified procedures.

It takes place in dedicated venues—bullrings—that are duly authorised and supervised by the competent state authority,” reads the brief entry found on the MatrizPCI platform.

Bullfight categories

The description notes that there are various types of bullfights in Portugal, ranging from the “Portuguese-style Bullfight” (*Corrida de Toiros à Portuguesa*), featuring mounted bullfighters (*cavaleiros*) and *forcados*, to the “Bullfight on Foot” (*Corrida de Toiros a Pé*), consisting solely of *matadores de toiros* (bullfighters who fight on foot). In contrast, the “Mixed Bullfight” (*Corrida de Toiros Mista*) features a combination of mounted bullfighters, *matadores* or *novilheiros* (novice bullfighters), and *forcados*.

Meanwhile, *Novilhadas* are “bullfighting spectacles featuring young mounted practitioners and/or *novilheiros*—that is, bullfighters who have not yet received their *alternativa* (formal graduation) as mounted bullfighters or *matadores*, a milestone that marks their entry into the highest professional tier of their respective categories.”

“In addition to these, there are other types of bullfighting spectacles enshrined in law, which take place under specific conditions depending on their nature,” the text adds. The public consultation runs for 30 days, and the cultural heritage authority must decide within 120 days of its conclusion.

Event attendances

Data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) indicate that, in 2025, nearly 300,000 people attended bullfights, up from 244,000 the previous year.

According to the Inspectorate-General for Cultural Activities (IGAC), 147 such events were authorised and held in 2025 across 63 municipalities.

“In 2025, the number of bullfighting events held remained in line with the previous year’s figures, though the downward trend observed in recent years persisted,” the IGAC noted in its report on bullfighting activity.

Earlier this year, following an unsuccessful attempt in 2021, the Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) proposed a bill to ban minors from working at or attending these events.

The PAN party ran in the 2025 legislative elections on a platform advocating for the removal of “all activities and spectacles associated with bullfighting—or any others linked to animal suffering and death—from the Intangible Cultural Heritage list.”

Both PAN and Livre advocated abolishing bullfighting in their election manifestos.

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