Blood samples from 412 Spanish wild rabbits belonging to six populations located in Northern, North-Eastern and Central Spain were tested for 17 genetic markers in this study, using starch and polyacrylamnide gel electrophoresis. Population studies revealed a higher level of genetic polymorphism for some of these 17 loci in wild rabbit populations, when compared to non wild rabbit populations. The study of genetic distances among the five populations reveals that factors other than geographic distance may explain the findings that the Northern population can be grouped with two of the Central populations whereas the North-Eastern populations can be grouped with another Central population. The former group shows more genetic similarities with populations bred under captivity than the latter.