This breed, correctly spelled 'galgo español' but usually just called 'galgo' (meaning simply 'sighthound') is as the name implies a spanish breed, like its closer relatives a very ancient type of dog, possibly having reached the Pyrenean peninsula as early as 600 B.C with wandering celts - or perhaps even as early as 4000 B.C, through the egyptians.
At any rate, the modern galgo was 'discovered' in the 1970s when breeders found that the ancient wirehaired dog was close to extinction, due to the growing interest in dog racing - the old dogs had been crossed with british greyhounds. There were only a few areas in which the traditional galgo was still kept as a hare hunter, and the dogs usually had no pedigrees. Even today breeders are working hard at producing the old dogs, that do not too closely resemble greyhounds.

The galgo espanol should be elongated and elegant, with a thin head and slightly convex top of muzzle. It has high set ears and small eyes. The chest is well developed but not too deep, with a heavy tuck up, and the muscles of a marathon runner. The paws are the shape of hare paws. The topline is softly curved from the thin neck, with a slightly lower back and a long croup. The tail ends in a hook and should almost be long enough to reach the ground. The coat is either smooth or wire - the later may have a beard, furry eyebrows and tuft on the head.