On November 2, a bullfight held in the Huelva town of Niebla and broadcast by Canal Sur TV, put the finishing touch to the 2024 season; cattle from the Portuguese iron of Voltalegre were fought for the rejoneador Sebastián Fernández and the right-handers Curro Díaz and David de Miranda.
That celebration unintentionally became the best synthesis of the bullfighting year: a generous audience—an acceptable ticket for a capacity of 2,000 spectators in a third-category bullring—, correct presentation bulls, as kind as invalids, cripples and cripples; and three bullfighters who resolved the commitment without haste and with dignity, paraded trophies of little value and confirmed that they should be worthy of more attention from the companies.
One more afternoon, like so many throughout the year, the bull, the great protagonist of this festival, was an inappropriate caricature of the honorable history of bullfighting; an animal without a hint of strength, dull, with a sickly countenance, that walks through the arena aimlessly and with evident signs of having far exceeded the permitted blood alcohol limits; an animal that produces pity instead of amazement, a dethroned protagonist who has been reserved a secondary role in a show in which he is nothing more than a necessary collaborator for a vain and superficial triumph, a stone guest who increasingly paint less.
But that bull—the case of Niebla is nothing more than an illustrative example—is the one that has taken to the bullrings of this country in many of the celebrations that have been celebrated with very few and specific exceptions.
If no one remedies it, the future of bullfighting, sooner rather than later, will be the kingdom of bullfighters, and the fight will end up becoming a parody.
A few weeks ago, this blog echoed this problem by listing some of the negative aspects of the season and pointing out that the vast majority of the cattle dealt with have been a reference to the rot in which the wild cattle has set in. The lack of breed is the common denominator of the current bull, along with disability and the inability to be alive in three thirds of the bullfight. And he added that it is striking that no bullfighter or any authority expresses concern about the current situation of the fighting bull.
That bull that is fought today lacks the natural conditions necessary for emotion, a fundamental ingredient of the bullfighting spectacle. That invalid and cadaverous bull is the prelude to the disappearance of the festival; The luck of rods will be lost because the first third already lacks meaning and, immediately afterwards, respect for a beautiful and powerful animal that has been turned into a waste will disappear. If no one remedies it, the bullfighting future, sooner rather than later, will be the kingdom of bullfighters, and the fight will be a parody that as such will lack the shock and outburst that is only possible with a real bull.
The conclusion was expressed clearly back in the summer by a user of the old Twitter. “We must demand,” he said, “a refoundation of bull selection based on breed, bravery and the search for exciting animals.”
But who is responsible for this situation?
The system, of course, that ethereal entity, that bottomless pit in which all the bullfighting people, the scoundrels and the honest ones fit, but none of them are capable of denouncing it.
The ranchers are responsible, first of all—each at their own risk and expense—who raise bulls without a pattern that establishes morphological and behavioral conditions and only at the service of the tastes of the bullfighters, who are the ones who, truly and In almost all cases, they rule the farms. It is striking that the five organizations of bull breeders, with the Union at the head, do not say, nor have they said nor will they say anything about it, as if it were not the problem with them.
In an interview on the portal Intotorothe rancher Álvaro Núñez left no doubt: “More than the bull being the best, I want it to be able to bring out the best in the bullfighter,” he said; “There are very good bulls for people, who are not so good for bullfighting and for the bullfighter in front. My obsession is that the bull is extraordinary for the bullfighter. Why? Because I look for meeting bullfighting, that when he charges, the bullfighter does not displace him, but rather can bullfight towards him.”
It is clear: Núñez’s reference is not the integrity of the spectacle, nor the emotion of the fight, nor the breed nor the fierceness of the bull, but rather that it is “extraordinary” for the bullfighter; In other words, raise an animal so that it can withstand several dozen blows with the muleta and its handler can relax and bore the sheep. Precisely the opposite of what the encounter between a brave and accomplished bull and a heroic and artistic bullfighter should be.
It is essential to refound the selection of the bull based on breed and bravery.
The case of Álvaro Núñez can be extended to the entire sector.
The bullfighters are also responsible, of course.
Roberto Domínguez, retired bullfighter and influential bullfighter in his role as representative of El Juli, first, and of Roca Rey, until last October 31, published a letter to communicate his separation from bullfighting, and in the acknowledgments section he wrote the following: following: “I want to thank all the ranchers who have understood that, above friendship and my personal tastes, the bull that could best contribute to the success of the bullfighter it represented has always prevailed. at every moment.”
What can be deduced from Domínguez’s words is that, logically, he has defended the interests of his bullfighters; but it was he and not the ranchers who chose the bulls for his clients. And, furthermore, he thanks them for their understanding, which is the same as explicitly recognizing that the ranchers took a backseat when their team entered the farm.
And the big businessmen are responsible, who choose irons and bulls to shape the tastes of the public, so that the bullfighters feel comfortable and entertain the crowd; The exception to the rule is made up of modest right-handers, who must deal with livestock farms. from the Tories to satisfy the minority sectors of demanding fans.
The ranches must be refounded, without a doubt, but no one will do it, because all bullfighting prefer to remain satisfactorily installed in their comfort zone rather than seriously addressing the future of the festival.
The bull, that beautiful and powerful animal, is helpless, and converted into a wreck. The bullfighters’ festival is underway.