“The clubs, the conferences and the awards talk a lot about bulls and bullfighters, but they forget about bullfighting. The fans dress up in winter to celebrate gatherings and tributes while businessmen decide the course of the season without a hint of criticism.”
These weblog headlines The bull, by the horns, printed in EL PAÍS final Friday, have raised some eyebrows amongst numerous fan associations; some, to ratify each statements and demand higher involvement from the followers, and others to indicate their disagreement with what was printed and spotlight the silent work, invisible on many events, of many golf equipment, on whose work the celebration of bullfights in lots of localities relies upon. All these surveyed agree, nevertheless, that they’re voices that, generally, cry out within the desert of a enterprise group extra involved with financial profit than with responding to the solutions of those that cross by the ticket workplace.
Lope Morales, president of the Bullfighting Federation of Jaén and the capital’s bullring, may be very clear about it, and forcefully expresses his disagreement with what was printed. “The fans have to be linked to the territory,” he says; “It is the clubs that mobilize the city councils to hold celebrations, in such a way that if it were not for their management you would only see bulls in Seville and Madrid,” he says. And he tells the story of the city of Martos: “Bullfights have not been celebrated in this town for 15 years, and 10 years ago a club was created – which already has 150 members – whose purpose is to bring back the celebrations despite the reluctance of the City Council.” “The fans influence – the larger the city, the less the influence – on whether there are bulls, but not on the organization of the cartels,” explains Morales. “It is an activity as incessant as it is invisible, which is hidden and extinguished by the galas and tributes, which have become fashionable and have become a vanity fair.”
“The fans have to be linked to the territory, it is the clubs that mobilize the town councils to hold celebrations.” Lope Morales, president of the Jaén Bullfighting Federation
An analogous opinion is expressed by Jorge Fajardo, president of the Union of Amateur Bullfighting Federations of Spain (UFTAE). In his opinion, “in addition to awarding prizes and tributes, most of the clubs I know carry out quiet work throughout the year, they belong to the commissions that organize the different bullfighting fairs and try to influence the companies’ decisions.”
“The current system is very closed, the ranks are very old, and companies are reluctant to open their posters to emerging bullfighters and seek economic benefit; therefore, the work of the clubs is not known, but we should not focus on a one-day event and should value the work of the entire year.”
Isidoro Ruiz, president of the Peña Bullfighting Club of Tarazona de la Mancha, within the province of Albacete, categorically states that “those primarily responsible for the current situation of the festival are the fans, who make it a point to visit farms and invite illustrious figures from the world of bullfighting who contribute nothing to the configuration of the season.” “For different reasons,” he continues, “the fans have no art or part in the running of the party, and the worst thing is that they don’t want to commit.” Ruiz recollects that his membership has solely acknowledged one bullfighter within the 37 editions of its annual occasions, which it devoted final February to Fernando Robleño for his retirement, and that the members of the membership didn’t attend the San Isidro Fair final yr in protest on the improve within the worth of particular person tickets. “We are committed to the party,” he concludes, “but we are a small town and we have little strength; the sad truth is that people do not want to complicate their lives.”
“It is a lost battle,” says Agustín Colomar, president of the Bullfighting Union of Valencia Subscribers, when referring to the efforts his group is making earlier than the Provincial Council, proprietor of the bullring. And it divides the general public that involves the sq. between followers and people who are simply going to have enjoyable, and among the many former there’s a nucleus that’s solely involved with what occurs within the enviornment. “In conclusion, there are very few of us who intend to go further.”
Colomar believes that the fan have to be insistent with private and non-private administrations in every little thing that advantages the competition. But he confesses that, on this activity, his group has been left alone on totally different events; and highlights his protest in opposition to the suspension of the final July Fair because of the enchancment of lighting. “We spoke out harshly,” he says, “and no one opened their mouths.”
“There are many clubs, especially among the small ones, that take center stage in their party and their only concern is to have a good time; but there are other more serious ones that are demanding, although less than I would like, things as they are.” This is the opinion of Javier Nebreda, president of the Cocherito Club of Bilbao, which has 800 members and a acknowledged status.
“But you get tired because we are voices crying out in the desert,” he continues. He describes the Bilbao membership as ‘claimant’, “which has cost us some displeasure when what we ask for is the Bilbao bull and the presence of some bullfighters, but the company listens little and pursues its interest in making money, which is a legitimate objective.”
If the followers had been demanding, constructive and energetic, we’d all be significantly better.” Carlos Rodriguez-Villa, president of the El Toro Association of Madrid
“If the fans – who are also guilty of all the evils of the festival – were demanding, constructive and active, we would all be much better off,” says Carlos Rodriguez-Villa, president of the El Toro de Madrid Association, which workout routines, in his phrases, “a defense and promotion of the true protagonist of the festival, the fierce and well-groomed bull, from the demand and search for integrity.”
He considers that the members are ‘militant followers’, and that is demonstrated by the quite a few writings they handle to all of the actors of the competition in Madrid, the publication of the annual ebook of chronicles, the journal La Voz de la Afificación, the gatherings they maintain within the winter and the banners and flyers they show on the Las Ventas strains.
“In part we feel listened to by the administrations,” he provides, “but, generally, not; we are that actor that bothers them, but it is true that they are close and polite, they respond to our writings, but we know that our points of view are very different.” “And the Plaza 1 company is still a travel agency that operates a business from which it wants to get the maximum possible economic return, which is why we focus on the Bullfighting Affairs Center, which represents the property – the Community of Madrid – and must look after the plaza,” he concludes.
https://elpais.com/cultura/2026-03-18/division-de-opiniones-sobre-el-compromiso-o-la-indolencia-de-las-penas-taurinas.html