was kept in its vocation as a swift hunting dog, maybe the most telling proverb which mentions the Galgo is one dating from the beginning of the nineteenth century: ; 'The hare never escapes from the King's Galgos', which was used at first to satirize the corrupt government of Fernando VII, considered to cheat in everything it did. In the first years of the 20th century, large scale crossbreeding occurred between the Galgo and the English Greyhound in order to create faster dogs for professional track racing. This certainly affected the purity of the breed as the resulting dogs were just a bit faster, but did lose their long-distance-running abilities. Finally breeders came to the conclusion that it was not worth crossbreeding. The purebred Galgo kept its major presence in the Spanish villages as an excellent hunting type. Despite its antiquity and importance, the Spanish Galgo has only recently been acknowledged by cynological associations. The English Greyhound has tended to outshine the Galgo. The catastrophic events suffered by Spain during the 20th century, such as the Spanish Civil War and the 40-year-long fascist dictatorship of Francisco Franco, allowed the breed to be kept relatively unknown both inside and outside of its native country, at least until democracy led to greater social and cultural equality and development. The breed faces the 21st century progressively more appreciated at home and abroad, as contemporary Spain becomes more conscious of the uniqueness and heritage of this animal. Roles Hunting use The Galgo was used for hunting, as well as for coursing the hare in the open field where dogs hunt prey without the intervention of man during the chase. This type of hunting, which now has a true sporting character, was in the past an act of social prestige in which hunting was a pretext to prove who had the best specimens of the breed. Because of its specific conditions, Spain is probably the country where sighthounds are used in greater numbers for hunting and sports than any other,, and Galgos are commonly found in any of the towns and cities of the vast area of the Spanish plains. Galgo coursing competitions in Spain generate annually in the order of sixty million euros , a calculation which refers only to those aficionados which are members of the societies. This lesser group of galgueros train annually between three thousand and four thousand Galgos for participation