San Miguel and the Autumn Fair, between the absence of Morante, replaced by Pablo Aguado, and the farewell of Ponce | Culture

The season is coming to an end. The San Miguel fair in Seville and the Autumn fair in Madrid mark the end, as every year. The Pilar cycle in Zaragoza and the two bullfights at the Jaén fair are also pending, but the official closing ceremony takes place on October 12 in the Las Ventas bullring.

The absence of Morante de la Puebla from La Maestranza due to illness and the farewell of Enrique Ponce are the two highlights of the posters announced in the two most important bullrings; Morante has been out of the bullrings since the 11th, suffering from a personality disorder, and will be replaced by Pablo Aguado, and Ponce is going to Madrid to say goodbye to the local fans, as he has been doing in various arenas.

Last Monday, the Community of Madrid presented an exhibition in honour of Enrique Ponce, which was chaired by Carlos Novillo, Minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Interior. It is a collection of great moments experienced by the bullfighter in this ring, and features images from a large group of bullfighting photography professionals.

Enrique Ponce presented himself as a novillero at the Autumn Fair in 1988; after his alternative at the Fallas fair in 1990, he confirmed his status that same year in Madrid. He has opened the Puerta Grande on four occasions (1992, 1997, 2002 and 2017) and has cut 17 ears.

This Friday the doors of La Maestranza open and on Saturday the Valencian bullfighter says goodbye in Las Ventas

And another one who says goodbye is the rejoneador Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza, this one from La Maestranza, where he has achieved great triumphs, among which stands out the tail that he cut off on the morning of April 25, 1999 from a bull from Fermín Bohórquez.

The fourth and most important protagonist is the bull. As most of the bullfighters announced are considered stars, the chosen cattle ranches belong to the most commercial and comfortable cast of the bullfighting field, with the exception of the bulls from Victorino Martín, which will be fought in Las Ventas on October 12. In Seville, the bulls will belong to the Victoriano del Río, Garcigrande and Hnos. García Jiménez brands; and in Madrid, Juan Pedro Domecq, Garcigrande, Puerto de San Lorenzo, Victoriano del Río again and Fuente Ymbro, which is also announced in a bullfight. The second bullfight with picadors will feature bulls from six cattle ranches.

And the public. In this case, those who come to Las Ventas, because, according to the company Plaza 1, which manages it, 18,229 passes have been sold for this autumn cycle, which represents 79% of the 22,964 seats in total capacity. This is the highest figure in the last 15 years, and represents an increase of more than a thousand new passes compared to the Autumn Fair in 2023.

The figure is not exact, because only 15,429 season tickets have been sold, and the remaining 2,800 are free for the entire season (2,100 for retirees and 700 for young people).

The free-of-charge initiative was launched by Plaza 1 in the 2023 season, and in the fall of that year a total of 17,034 subscribers were reached.

In previous years, those over 65 could access the season ticket with a 75% discount on the ticket price, and young people under 25 with a 50% discount. Even so, the number of season ticket holders at the Autumn Fair only exceeded the figure of 15,000 from 2016 to 2022, with the exception of 2018, when it reached 16,028.

The most brilliant figures in the current ranking are announced for the three bullfights in Seville, on September 27, 28 and 29, and for the two bullfights for young bulls and five bullfights – including the one on October 12 – in Madrid.

The attractive posters for the modern public are back, and it seems as if bullfighting has been resurrected after long months of a very dull season in terms of livestock, with fewer people than expected at the various fairs once the April and San Isidro fairs have finished, without resounding triumphs for the best-known names and the regularity of some young bullfighters, such as Borja Jiménez, Fernando Adrián and David Galván.

Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza will say goodbye to La Maestranza, where he cut off a tail on April 25, 1999