The posters for Bilbao have finally been revealed. With just over a month to go until the first bullfight, the BMF company announced the combinations of bullfighters and cattle ranches for the so-called Corridas Generales de Bilbao. The highlights are the farewells of the bullfighter Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza and the bullfighter Enrique Ponce, as well as the return of the Peruvian Roca Rey, the only swordfighter who will perform on two evenings.
The cycle lacks the traditional identity that sustained the prestige of the Corridas Generales decades ago. If Bilbao historically forged the term Toro de Bilbao As its hallmark, it seems shocking that no livestock motif is among the attractions of the Semana Grande announced by the company that manages the bullring.
Eight afternoons, from August 18 to 25, with posters similar to those of recent years and any other summer fair and full of notable absences in terms of brands and bullfighters. It will begin with an afternoon of bullfighting in which Guillermo Hermoso will be accompanied by veterans Sergio Galán and Leonardo, and in which Diego Ventura will be absent again. Pablo Hermoso has also left that event, who will be announced in a mixed bullfight to say goodbye to Bilbao fans on Saturday 24, together with the regular bullfighters Diego Urdiales and Juan Ortega.
The most attractive combination of the week, although scheduled for Tuesday, one of the days with few spectators, will be the duel between Daniel Luque, winner of the April Fair in Seville, and Borja Jiménez, winner of San Isidro, who will compete against bulls from Fuente Ymbro. Their titles justify the duel, but the absence of rivalry between the two bullfighters suggests that in a cycle of six bullfights another of the outstanding names of the year could well have entered. There are many absent bullfighters, who offer other attractions; from Paco Ureña to Fernando Adrián, passing through the young Tomás Rufo or the veteran Manuel Escribano or David Galván, one of the few who conquered Las Ventas in May.
In terms of livestock, there was a total presence of different versions of Domecq until the final testimony of Ventana del Puerto and Dolores Aguirre. There was no news of bloodlines from Saltillos or Santa Coloma or of Santiago Domecq, whose triumph in 2022 has meant that he will not return to this ring.
The rest of the posters are the usual presence of matadors with two decades of experience, Perera and Castella grouped with Emilio de Justo, and Manzanares and Talavante, protected by the box office pull of Roca Rey. Precisely, the Peruvian will be the only matador to repeat the parade; on Thursday against bulls from Victoriano del Río and on Friday before the surprising presence of bulls from Daniel Ruiz, a symbol that shows the character that the Bilbao cycle has taken. That day, the great of the Aste Nagusia, Roca Rey will be accompanied by Enrique Ponce, who will say goodbye to one of the bullrings in which he was an idol for killing Victorinos, Atanasios or specimens from Samuel Flores, and Pablo Aguado.
And to close the week, the only bullfighting brand, that of Dolores Aguirre, the winning brand of last year, something that only serves to repeat the closing, when the tourists have already left the city and the festive spirit has died down. A similar prize goes to Damián Castaño, who conquered Bilbao last year in the afternoon of the bulls of the Bilbao ranch.
The week will be completed by two bullfights. On Monday 19th, a bullfight by Bilbao native José Cruz for an interesting group of novilleriles within the magnificent current bunch of candidates that exist in the ranking. And on Friday morning the final of the III Memorial Iván Fandiño will be held, a competition of practical classes (without picadors) whose qualifiers have been grouped for next week, on the 19th, 20th and 21st of July.
This is what the Corridas Generales of Bilbao will be like, once the most important event of the bullfighting season in August. Now, they have been announced later than ever and surrounded by a silence that has worried the fans of Vizcaya, because nobody can hide the fact that this delay in the announcement (a public presentation is planned for next week) hides some serious underlying problem in the organization of the cycle.
The public’s response will probably be similar to that of previous years, concentrated in a couple of afternoons with good attendance and similar attendance figures, but it will be a cycle far from the identity that the Corridas Generales historically had.
The posters are as follows:
Sunday, August 18. Bullfighting show. Sergio Galan, Leonardo Hernandez and Guillermo Hermoso de Mendoza (bulls from Fermin Bohorquez).
Monday, 19th. Bullfight. Jarocho, Aaron Palacio and Javier Zulueta (bulls from Jose Cruz).
Tuesday, 20th. Daniel Luque and Borja Jiménez, mano a mano (bulls from Fuente Ymbro).
Wednesday, 21st. Sebastian Castella, Miguel Angel Perera and Emilio de Justo (bulls from Nunez del Cuvillo).
Thursday, 22nd. (bulls from Victoriano del Rio).
Friday, 23. Enrique Ponce, Roca Rey and Pablo Aguado (bulls by Daniel Ruiz).
Saturday, 24th. Mixed bullfight. Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza, Diego Urdiales and Juan Ortega (bulls from San Pelayo for bullfighting, and from La Ventana del Puerto).
Sunday, 25th. Fernando Robleño, Damian Castaño and Jose Garrido (bulls from Dolores Aguirre).