Eduardo (82 years old) and Antonio (73) Miura are fully convinced that they were born to be ranchers from the cradle. Both respond in unison, which has always been instilled in them. The countryside, Zahariche’s Sevillian estate, has been his home and school vacation spot, and the bull and the horse have been his toys.
Ask. But, perhaps, you had another vocation…
And they both respond again at the same time.
“We have never considered it. It has never occurred to us to think that the countryside was not our thing; “We, in the countryside, with the horses and the bulls, are happy.”
Eduardo and Antonio studied Agricultural Expertise, although they have used all their knowledge on the family farm. At the direction of their parents, they made a brief and obligatory foray into work outside of livestock farming.
“I worked for ten months in a water company,” says Eduardo, “but only for a change of scenery, because before the year I was already back in Zahariche.”
“And I, because my mother insisted,” says Antonio, “I spent six months in a drilling company, but what we liked was the countryside.”
Eduardo has a son of the same name, 35 years old, who has studied Business Administration and Management, works in livestock farming and has never provided services outside of it. He is the guarantee of the future for the family business.
“Well, more or less,” the father muses. “Initially, yes,” responds his brother Antonio, “although I hope that will take a while to arrive.” “I say what I say,” explains Eduardo, “because with age I already see everything in black and white.”
“They say that I greeted the minister very seriously at the presentation of the Medal of Fine Arts; I’m not going to smile at him if he wants to take my food away” (Eduardo Miura).
The two brothers and Eduardo Jr. are custodians of a legend and manage a livestock farm that today has about 700 head of cattle, among which there are 220 cows. In addition to the bull, they plant cereals on irrigated land and raise a few pronghorn cows on colorao which they use for their own oxen or for sale, but 80% of the business is the bull.
Ask. But is Miura’s livestock farming profitable?
Answer. We defend ourselves. He feeds us, and with that we have more than enough. We are not rich nor will we enjoy a yacht, but we do what we like.
Miura was born in 1842, and it seems miraculous that it remains today given the numerous livestock farms that have disappeared in that long period of time.
“I think it must have been because of the way the whole family acted,” says Eduardo.
“It is a miracle, for sure,” adds Antonio, “with the events that have occurred in this world since the middle of the 19th century and the political, economic and social changes that Spain has experienced, the two Republics, the Spanish flu, the Civil War… it is miraculous that we are still here.”
P. And do you think there is a future?
R. As long as people go to the bullrings, I think so, says Antonio, and I see many young people in the bullfights, so that, even if the politicians don’t want to, it won’t be easy to put an end to the party.
“I think there is a future,” Eduardo says, “even if the Minister of Culture does not agree.”
P. But you are already acquaintances of the minister. On April 3, they were seen greeting him on the occasion of the presentation of the Fine Arts medals awarded to them by the ministry.
R. Yes, says Eduardo, but he made it clear publicly that the prize had been awarded by the previous minister and not him.
P. But you, Eduardo, greeted Ernest Urtasun with a very serious gesture.
R. I’m not going to smile at him after he tries to take my food away…
“I didn’t give him a bad face, to be honest,” Antonio comments, “but you, yes; Come on, you looked at him as if you were a miuraand and…”
And both of them, in a joking tone, comment on the pride it is for the family that the Royal Spanish Academy includes the word miura in the dictionary and, in addition to alluding to the famous iron bull, a second meaning refers to “a wicked person, of bad intentions”.
“But let me say something,” Antonio intervenes. “The night before the medal was awarded, a dinner was held, and we both went with the fly behind our ears, convinced that all the attendees would be against the bulls, and we were surprised that they were not It was like this: ‘This doesn’t have to end,’ was the general comment I heard.”
P. The truth is that Miura’s bull is different. Today we look for the comfortable bull, and yours requires a bullfighter and not an artist bullfighter.
R. I’m not sure,” Eduardo intervenes. Pepe Luis Vázquez Sr. fought the Miura bullfight in Seville every April Fair, and the year my father debuted in La Maestranza the poster was Pepe Bienvenida, Manolete and Pepe Luis. It is true, however, that Pepe Luis was a point and apart. He had the best head to see the bulls. Conclusion: that Miura’s bull can also be fought by an artistic bullfighter.
“Those at the top of the ranks don’t want to advertise with our bulls,” adds Antonio, “but neither do those at the bottom; This bull is complicated and if the bullfighter lacks skill he can have a bad time.”
“To be before a miura“, he continues, “you have to have, first, position, really put the muleta forward, temperance – not violence – and not to like it because this bull doesn’t admit it. This is like a hornet’s nest; If you don’t bother them, they won’t bite you, but if you smack them, you have to run away.
“We defend ourselves; Livestock feeds us and with that we have enough” (Antonio Miura).
P. Perhaps that discomfort is the key to permanence over time.
R. It’s possible. Miura’s bull learns and is aware of what is happening around him. And if he can eat you, he eats you. He has unpredictable reactions. Because? You would have to ask them. It’s in your genes.
P. Despite everything, Miura maintains its prestige…
“That’s how it is,” says Antonio, “and that’s lucky; We are very grateful to the Seville company and the public; We have fought uninterruptedly since 1941 and it is repeated year after year regardless of triumph or failure. But you have to be careful: livestock farming is day to day, you can have a bad season, but not two or three, because it shows in the places in which you can deal.
For this year, Miura has sold six bullfights: Seville, already fought; Madrid, Pamplona, Algeciras, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Zaragoza. The two brothers waited for the Las Ventas event with the excitement and tension inherent in the case, but the bullfight was not up to the expectations. The bulls attracted attention for their appearance, but disappointed with their behavior.
Eduardo’s son, the young man of the same name, also present in the conversation, trusts in the future of the bullfight, but draws attention to the bureaucratic complications to which the livestock farms are subjected in the health aspect, the obstacles policies and the increase in prices of the products necessary for raising the bull that, in his opinion, have not had an impact on the bullfighting price.
“We endured,” his uncle Antonio concludes. “We make numbers and we hold on. The ups and downs scare us, but we’ve been like this for many years…