The Alano Español or Spanish Bulldog is a Spanish breed of medium to large sized dog of alaunt-bulldog type. It has at various times been used as a war dog, for bullfighting, for the management of cattle, for hunting and as a guard dog. In the later twentieth century it became an endangered breed; a recovery project was launched, and numbers have since recovered. It was officially recognised under national law in 2004. History The origins of the Alano Español are unknown. One hypothesis is that it derives from dogs brought to Spain in the Migration Period in the fifth century by the Alani, a nomadic pastoralist people from Central Europe. The first written reference to the breed in Spain is in a chapter of the fourteenth-century ("Book of the Hunt of Alfonso XI"), in which hunting dogs called Alani are described as having beautiful colours. Dogs of this type travelled with Spanish explorers and were used as war dogs in the subjugation of Native American peoples, as well as in the re-capture of slaves. Becerrillo, a ferocious war-dog owned by Juan Ponce de León, may have been of this type. Dogs of this type are shown in the bullfighting ring in an etching by Francisco de Goya in his series La Tauromaquia of 1816. From the late nineteenth century the Alano began to decline, for a variety of reasons: in 1880, the use of dogs in the bull-ring was prohibited, and the new practice of bullfighting on foot became more widespread; the manner of hunting changed, and more use was made of imported hunting dogs of foreign breeds; extensive management of livestock became less common in parts of the country; and the handling of livestock in slaughterhouses was modernised and no longer made use of dogs. The Alano was no longer needed for its traditional tasks, and numbers fell rapidly, almost to the point of the disappearance or extinction of the breed. A surviving breeding population was identified in the mountains of Enkarterri/Las Encartaciones in the Basque Country in the 1980s. A breed standard was drawn up and a stud-book was started. In collaboration with the Real Sociedad Canina de España and municipal administrations including those of Alanís de la Sierra, Archidona, Cazalla and El Ronquillo, a recovery project was launched. There are two breed societies, the Asociación Nacional de Criadores de Alano Español (formed in 1995), and the