The management company of the Plaza de Las Ventas, Plaza 1, has just announced that the gala to present the posters of , only five days later than in the previous two years. The date change occurred in 2023; Until then, the custom was to celebrate this event between March 8 and 22 since the current businessmen, Simón Casas and Rafael García Garrido, took over the management of the arena in 2017. This very novel and groundbreaking advance—at the time of Taurodelta and the Lozano Brothers, the Isidril combinations were known much later—produced in its day the natural surprise not exempt from a controversy that still remains.
There are still those on social networks who assure that “in a short time the posters for the next three seasons will be presented because it doesn’t matter; They fight the same ones as always, and the merits or that of winning it in the ring are not worth it.” And another user adds “romantic bullfighting is dead; “That San Isidro appears three months early is a shame and betrayal to everyone who puts on the dress of lights.”
For his part, Salamanca journalist Paco Cañamero writes about this matter in which he cleans up the two Madrid businessmen, accuses them of causing serious damage to Plaza de Las Ventas and points out an idea as basic as it is interesting: why? Why not leave open a couple of bullfights and a bullfight to reward the winners of the first fairs?
Why not leave open a couple of bullfights and a bullfight to reward the winners of the first fairs?
It is true that the Isidril signage could be presented at Christmas, on the Inmaculada bridge or on November 1 because the names of livestock farms and bullfighters would not change; It is also true that romanticism has disappeared in bullfighting, but, perhaps, it is an exaggeration to consider a “shame and betrayal” of the bullfighters for presenting the posters on February 6.
On the other hand, comrade Cañamero, demanding and committed to the integrity of the bullfight, has the right to put businessmen to shame, but the ‘serious damage’ thing deserves an explanation.
The world has changed a lot in the last twenty years, not to mention the bulls. They are no longer ‘the national holiday’, the wise hobby is today residual, the bullfighters have stopped being heroes, the bull is a caricature of itself, and the attacks on bullfighting have multiplied from different fronts as active as they are bellicose.
The festival of yesteryear allowed romantic businessmen and the one remembered is in history, but there are no longer characters like that in bullfighting offices.
In June 2023, Rafael García Garrido clarified it in this same blog when he said the following: and if it is not profitable, it is not worth it; “A successful bullfighting is only possible if the square is full.”
And he, who comes from the world of leisure and entertainment, once had what can now be considered a good idea: to bring forward the presentation of the Madrid fair, as is done with all major artistic or sporting events in the world. world. And San Isidro is.
His partner, Simón Casas, who calls himself a cultural producer, played at being a revolutionary some time ago and imagined posters based on two drums—bulls and bullfighters—and that’s how it came about. It was a modern and different proposal, without a doubt. In view of the success, he promised that he would, but someone read him the letter and the proposal lost steam, so nothing was as expected. Despite everything, at the end of the cycle, Casas stated that, due to a different programming concept that has broken traditional molds to create competition; The fundamental element has been my invention of the bass drum.”
Garrido and Casas are children of their time, eager businessmen who have never truly felt called to break the mold and modernize bullfighting.
That’s how it would be, but it was never known again. The hype disappeared.
Can it be said, however, that both businessmen have inflicted serious damage on the party with their actions since 2017?
No.
Garrido and Casas are children of their time, eager businessmen who work to earn money, adapted to the moment of the party, far from romanticism, impregnated with all the evils of the spectacle – and its benefits, too -, and who have never felt truly called to break the mold and contribute from the great vantage point that they direct to modernize bullfighting and make it more fair, exciting, inclusive, united, demanding and strengthened.
They have put together interesting fair cycles, and, in general, they have been accompanied by the success of the public – there are the high numbers of subscribers – and of bulls and bullfighters.
In 2023 they did not hesitate to raise the price of single tickets to the detriment of a minority of fans, knowing that there were spectators willing to pay more, as has been the case. They have benefited from the surprising interest of a rebellious public in the face of the attacks suffered by the party, and were seriously harmed by the pandemic. And they work on the creation of posters with the objective of profit – legitimate, on the other hand -, with the parameters imposed by the different interest groups that exist in bullfighting and without excessive regard to the merits that are earned in the ring. .
What does it matter, then, when the posters are presented; Those in charge decide, who are few, but have a lot of weight. The problem, therefore, is not the presentation date of the San Isidro Fair. The important thing is its content.
And don’t forget a fundamental fact: everything Casas and García Garrido do and undo bears the authorized signature of the Community of Madrid, owner of the square. This Government approves the cartels, allows the increase in prices, in the same way that it expresses its support for bullfighting, it expresses it in its annual budgets and has abandoned – no one knows why – the necessary thorough rehabilitation of Las Ventas.
By the way, Cañamero’s incisive question is still there: why aren’t a couple of bullfights and a bullfight open to reward the winners of the first fairs?
