One of the great and good news of the year 2026 would be that Morante would stay at home and not reappear.
The mystery was born on the same afternoon of October 12 when Morante staged his farewell to bullfighting. And that night they say that the bullfighter whispered that he had not cut his ponytail, but that he had gotten rid of the addition, as if to say that it was not a retreat, but a rest.
And, since then, the rumor mill has not stopped; They say that the new businessman of La Maestranza, José María Garzón, has traveled to Portugal, where the Sevillian bullfighter seems to live in seclusion, to try to get him dressed in lights at the next April Fair; and the person in charge of Las Ventas, Rafael García Garrido, has said on Abc that he does not rule out that Morante will fight in 2026 in Madrid, and suggests that the bullfighter could be in the goyesca of Ronda, in San Miguel de Seville and at the Autumn Fair.
In other words, there are many who want Morante de la Puebla to return to the ring as soon as April dawns; some, because they don’t know how they are going to save the fair without their presence on the posters; others, because they believe that the party is over on October 12, and the majority, because they love gossip.
Here is the first hopeful unknown: that Morante will not return in 2026; Don’t come back, please. The opposite could be interpreted as a slight, a deception, a disappointment; It would be something like if October 12 had been a theater, a joke, a joke. That ritual of an artist who calmly goes to the center of the ring and takes his hands to the addition while an audience in love attends, overwhelmed, excited and surprised at an unexpected scene… That ritual is a dream filled with feeling that the bullfighter is not authorized to break.
One of the great and good news of next year would be that Morante would stay at home and not reappear
Whether the gesture of October 12 was consciously prepared or a momentary outburst, it acquired in itself a historical importance that no one should tarnish.
Morante has the right to rest, and so do the fans. He suffers from a mental illness, and the rest from a saturation of art, of artistic shock from which we have not yet recovered.
Morante has made us dream, and has no right to wake us up.
You can return whenever you want, of course, but without forgetting that your farewell – or rest – was a public commitment that you must respect.
And the businessmen, who rack their brains to make the posters, as is their obligation; Those who think that bullfighting ended on October 12 should remember the deaths of Joselito and Manolete, and they will realize their huge mistake; and lovers of gossip, watch heartfelt programs.
Morante’s case is very serious; for his illness, his artistic genius and his work. And we all, he and the others, have the right to rest. If he reappears tomorrow, the bullfighter will betray himself, destroy his mystique, the ritual, his personality… Everything will sound like a mockery.
That Morante does not return in 2026 will be great news for the art of bullfighting.
Another unknown: José María Garzón, businessman from La Maestranza in Seville.
He has the most difficult issue to solve, which is the absence of Morante; but Curro Romero also withdrew and the April Fair continued.
He knows that Seville is not at all demanding, that he will miss, yes, the bullfighter from La Puebla, but he can also replace him in his heart as soon as Juan Ortega or Aguado forget about the genius, take a real step forward and try to occupy the podium that they were never able to snatch from Morante.
Garzón has two problems: putting together an attractive fair and exciting his clients, the subscribers, who went from 7,500/8,000 in 2008 to less than 2,000 today. Because? Because the Pagés company never offered them affection or any advantages. If Las Ventas has achieved more than 19,000 subscribers in 2025, what reason is there for La Maestranza not to stop that dynamic.
Another hope: television. García Garrido has already announced that Telemadrid will once again broadcast the complete San Isidro Fair. It would not be at all strange if RTVA did the same with the Seville cycle, given, in addition, the good audience data achieved in the last San Miguel Fair.
Garzón has two problems: organizing an attractive April Fair without the bullfighter from La Puebla and increasing the number of subscribers.
And the most urgent hope: the bullfighting festival cries out for a thorough renewal of the ranks of bullfighters. It is an urgent need for some figures to opt for a more than deserved retirement; They are at the top on their own merits, without a doubt, but their ability to surprise has long since run out; Their essence jar is empty, they do not excite and interest them less and less. The problem is that they are in the hands of powerful representatives, they take over the fairs and block the way for others.
But the festival needs new faces, bullfighters with a hunger for success, and with the ability to continue trusting in the present and future of bullfighting.
And there are, and very good ones; At least, this is what they have demonstrated in the few opportunities they have been offered. All of them deserve to be at fairs, to be known and valued. Everyone deserves to be allowed by companies to demonstrate that they can be trusted.
Who are they?
Surely many names will remain in the pipeline, but here are several of them from the conviction that they all have enough reasons to be excited: Samuel Navalón, Isaac Fonseca, Sergio Rodríguez, Alejandro Chicharro, Jarocho, Daniel Crespo, Manuel Diosleguarde, Aarón Palacio, Adrián de Torres, Jorge Martínez, Javier Zulueta, El Astigitano, Calerito, Mario Navas…
And the bull… The bull has a complicated remedy. For years, ranchers have been selecting only for the muleta task and they have earnestly sought kindness before caste, the enjoyment of the bullfighters before the excitement of the fans. A direct consequence of today’s bull is the disappearance of the luck of varas. Today people are applauded for not stinging.
The 2026 season therefore presents some interesting unknowns that must be resolved, fundamentally, by entrepreneurs with initiative and imagination. The festival does not end with the retirement of Morante, La Maestranza regains new air after almost a hundred years of the Pagés family, a legion of young bullfighters asks for passage and it would be good if the companies understood it this way, and welcome, another year, television. The bull thing is going to take a long time, and who knows if there is no remedy…