The 2024 bullfighting season has also been characterized by moments of unease, withdrawals that touch the soul, manifest illegalities, sound boredom and unspeakable injustices.
There should be everything in a year of bullfighting, but it hurts that the festival is incapable, for example, of renewing itself, of catching up, of modernizing itself, and that the show—the business—continues to be governed by the same parameters as many years ago. , many years.
It is surprising that while the leaders of any other cultural or sports industry rack their brains to adapt it to the new tastes and needs of their clients, bullfighting is each new year a carbon copy of the previous one without any concern for the concerns of those who pass through the box office.
It is true that there is no organization that integrates the sector, the most disunited of those known, (the Toro de Lidia Foundation goes another way, it pretends without reason to represent everyone and since its birth it has stayed away from the daily problems of the show. bullfighting), and the legal regulations, national and regional, depend on the public administration, which is distinguished by smiles and good words – those that boast of defending bulls – and few works. (With the help of counselor Antonio Sanz, the Junta de Andalucía is about to approve a substantial modification of its bullfighting regulations, but it is not at all clear that it represents a step forward in the defense of the purity, integrity and emotion of the bullfighting. celebrations).
It is striking that no bullfighter or any authority expresses concern about the current situation of the fighting bull.
Neither the absence of an organization nor tax regulations prevent businessmen, ranchers and bullfighters from reaching agreements that speed up the show and promote the tension inherent to the bullfight.
But not; It does not seem possible that those in power will ever sit down and show, at least, their concern for the present and future of the bullfighting festival. They defend different interests, if not contrary ones, and seem to care very little about the bull, the boredom of so many afternoons or the injustices of which many bullfighters are victims.
So, whether this reflection—the passivity or irresponsibility of the sector—be the first negative note of the season that has ended; but there are others, and some of them could be the following:
– The decline of the brave bull. It is striking that no bullfighter or any authority expresses concern about the current situation of the fighting bull. There have been some, the least, that have stood out for their strength, greed, bravery, nobility, class… but the vast majority of the cattle fought have been a reference for the rot in which the brave cabin has settled. The lack of caste is the common denominator of the current bull, along with disability and the inability to be alive in three thirds of the bullfight; Of course, the responsibility lies with the ranchers (the bull breeding organizations do not say a word) and with the bullfighters, who, through their shamelessness, spend the lot of rods and banderillas to turn the muleta task into a sleeping pill. poisonous.
– Morante of Puebla He suspended the season on September 11 due to a personality disorder problem and nothing has been heard from the bullfighter since. It was not the first time this year: he canceled his performances on March 17 until Easter Sunday; He relapsed on June 7 and reappeared on July 23 in Santander, and the illness forced him to put himself in the hands of doctors again. His absence is, without a doubt, bad news for the party.
– The bullfighting year of 2024 has passed and the Community of Madrid has not said a word again about the announced and necessary rehabilitation of the Plaza de Las Ventasdependent on advisor Carlos Novillo. The project approved by the previous Díaz Ayuso government was annulled and we are still waiting for a new company to present another report.
– Ernest Urtasun, Minister of Culturehas been, and continues to be, the nightmare of bullfighting. The elimination of the National Bullfighting Award is a manifest illegality, inappropriate for a high representative of the State; his snub to the Casa de Misericordia of Pamplona and El Juli, in front of the Kings, a palpable demonstration of his poor human quality.
– A large group of bullfighters who have demonstrated their qualities to be taken into account are still kidnapped by the system: Calerito, Ángel Téllez, Jorge Martínez, Ángel Jiménez, Manuel Diosleguarde, Juan de Castilla, Adrián de Torres, Manuel Perera, Francisco José Espada, Álvaro Alarcón, Sergio Serrano , Javier Cortés, David de Miranda, Damián Castaño and Fernando Robleño, among others. Does anyone know where they are? Why have they featured on so few posters in 2024?
A large group of bullfighters who have demonstrated their qualities to be taken into account are still kidnapped by the system
– On August 28, Morante de la Puebla and José María Manzanares They decide that they will not bullfight in Linares due to an alleged discussion with the authority regarding the approval or not of a pair of bulls; At the time of the draw they get lost on the road and ask two doctors to sign separate illness reports to justify the scare. The Andalusian Government has opened a file against them in which it proposes a fine of 12,000 euros for each of them, but it is not at all clear that the serious infraction will finally be punished. It will be seen. Has the Seville College of Physicians asked for an explanation from the doctors who signed the reports? Not a word.
– And the ruin of Onetoro. The surprise was incredible. The television platform announced in September that it would not broadcast the San Miguel and Autumn fairs because it was incurring losses of 12 million euros and only a minority of its viewers went to the box office. They just announced just a few days ago that they have started talks with businessmen and bullfighters with the aim of maintaining the television offer if the sector agrees to lower its economic claims for image rights and these are evaluated based on the real audience. I hope the dialogue is fruitful for the good, above all, of the party itself.
These are nothing more than a few glimpses of dark moments of the past bullfighting year; and not a few of them have a solution in the will of the bullfighting people. The real dilemma is their attitude towards problems: whether they are capable of facing them by right or prefer to hide their heads under their wings.
(In relation to last week’s blog, dedicated to the positive aspects of the season, Rafa García, director of RNE’s Clarín, points out two lapses that require rectification: the leadership of Roca Rey, the only bullfighter with strength in the ticket offices, and the numerous and hopeful presence of boys and girls in the bullrings.