Brian Harding

Readers who may remember me from happier times in the history of the fiesta will know that I was a great fan of Joaquín Vidal, the deceased chief taurine critic of El País, at a time when that newspaper was better disposed towards the bulls than it has been since he died ten years ago. He attended all the major ferias and others local to Madrid and wrote them up in his own characteristic style. He was defiantly unmoved by the persuasive machinery of the mundillo which had its business interests to promote. Vidal was his own man; he kept away from the social whirl which was so attractive to other journalists, nailed his colours firmly to the mast and upset many persons of influence by spending more time pointing out what was wrong than what was right. Like all aficionados, he had his obsessions, his favourites and his pet hates. Like me, he wanted to see a contest, not a ballet, the lidia of an aggressive toro by a gifted torero, capable of bringing a savage beast under his or her control; he loathed the spectacle of a 'pega-pases' accompanying the predictably smooth charge of a noble domecq while standing in profile, away from the horns - 'fuera de cacho'. In his writing he was appreciated by many of his readers for his use of references to classical literature and an overall richness in his vocabulary. I have friends who were not aficionados but would regularly turn to his chronicle for the sheer enjoyment of reading good Spanish prose.

Anyway, when Vidal died, El País saw an opportunity to reduce its commitment to the toros. They had a regular pool of freelance taurine journalists who they would typically call on to write up events in local, regional editions of the paper. The principal one of these was Antonio Lorca, who reflected the values of Vidal; he was a great admirer of the maestro and kept alive Vidal's unflinching criticism of what he saw as wrong with the fiesta.

During this current, unreal period defined by the restrictions associated with the Covid-19 virus, El País has commissioned Antonio Lorca to write a series of pieces on taurine themes and a recent one was on the time-honoured subject of fraudulent horn-shaving - afeitado. The discussion arose from a conference held by the association of Spanish bullring presidents (ANPTE) in which members considered the problems of afeitado in the fiesta. The inspiration for the topic was the story of a Miura bull, "Tiznaolla", marked with the number 85, cárdeno claro, weighing 541 kilos, that was fought during the feria of San Isidro in Madrid on 3 June 2018, by the matador Román. Suspicions arose when a horn tip was splintered badly ('astillado') in the ring and a post mortem analysis revealed that it had been shaved. The authorities in the Comunidad de Madrid awarded a fine of €6,000 against the ganadería, and the Miura brothers, Eduardo and Antonio, lodged an appeal in the Courts, where the judge found in their favour in October 2020, and dismissed the charges. The successful argument used by the defence was that, since "Tiznaolla" had passed the two examinations required by law upon its arrival at the plaza, any manipulation of the horns must have happened at the plaza, beyond the jurisdiction of the ganaderos. (If there had been any suspicion of fraud at these two examinations, the toro could only have been fought under the responsibility of the ganadería.) The Presidents' Association was of the view that the court case showed that the provisions in the Reglamento were not fit for purpose and that it was up to them to introduce measures to strengthen the rules about the safekeeping of the animals once they had been delivered to the plaza; extra security guards and even CCTV were mentioned. At the conclusion of the conference, a list of necessary improvements were agreed, of which theses are the main points:

- The rules governing the responsibilities of the ganadería for the vigilance and protection of the toros delivered to the plaza should be more clearly defined.

- A procedure should be introduced for the compulsory analysis of the horns of all bulls whether fought or rejected in the plaza. This is what was done in 2015 by the Basque Government and has been the practice in France since 2001.

- If funds are not available for this vigilance to be carried out by security guards, modern technology in the form of online CCTV is available which will record everything that happens in the corrales and chiqueros of the plaza.

- Copies of a protocol to avoid fraudulent shaving ('afeitado') should be made available to everyone involved in the presiding of all taurine events, with the recommendation that it is to be closely followed.

- The President of the Association, José Luis Fernández Torres, wished it to be noted that he personally has little confidence in the possibility of eradicating fraud in the toros by regulation alone. He pointed out that, in the Miura appeal hearing, there was no representative of the Comunidad de Madrid present and he didn't expect there to be any appeal against the verdict. Afeitado has always existed and now sophisticated technology is being brought to bear, such as the use of portable x-ray machines to indicate the limits of possible horn-shaving before it becomes obvious. He went on to say that, to ensure integrity in the process, presidential teams should be made to stay behind in the plaza for two hours after the event in a supervisory role; he was aware that not everyone involved would be prepared to make this sacrifice. He added that, in the Andalucía Reglamento, analysis of the horns can only take place if the toro has been fought under the responsibility of the ganadero (see above).

If not comprehensive, the above shows a determination to tackle the problem of what is seen by many spectators as the main fraud levied on the ticket-buying public in the plaza; there remain many others. Any changes to the Reglamento would require a new law, but a protocol can be merely an interpretation of what already exists in law.

In recent years, it has become obvious to me that the techniques of horn-shaving have become more sophisticated, although, coincidentally, it has become less important to me than it was in my youth; I suspect that I have become closer to the attitude of many professionals in this regard. Any attack on the integrity - in its widest sense - of the toro bravo is a fraud inflicted on the public. I see most of my corridas in Madrid now, and most of these from my abono seat high up in Andanada number 1. But if my suspicions are aroused, I will always inspect the horns with a powerful set of binoculars. Shaving is now rare in Madrid, but in the provinces it was common to see the tell-tale signs of shaving, such as a sudden steepening of the curve of the horn towards the tip, or a bright-white area between the off-white or brown part of the horn and the black tip. I have even seen pitones which appeared to be bleeding, which is a sickening sight. I have heard of the use of boot-polish and stainer to tone down and disguise where shaving has taken place; apparently there are expert shavers who are considered 'artists', whose services can be hired on a freelance basis. The use of a portable x-ray device is a new one on me.

It must be remembered that shaving takes place quite legitimately in bull-husbandry. Most bulls for rejoneo are shaved to save the horse (and this is one of the reasons I dislike rejoneo). It is also common practice to shave sementales to protect the vacas, and if a horn is damaged in the campo or in transit, it can be made presentable again by discreet shaving - known as 'arreglo'. A framework for securely holding the bull still while this happens is a standard piece of equipment on all ganaderías, officially for the use of the vet (see an illustration on page 352 of Brave Employment, published by the Club Taurino of London). Such restraint is always a very traumatic experience for an animal as free-ranging as a toro bravo

There are various myths about shaving outside of these legitimate circumstances, and the commonest is that the matador, or often the apoderado, requests it. This brings up the inevitable question "why?" and it is frequently said that the answer is that it gives the matador more confidence, a valuable commodity in an inexperienced matador. In some quarters, it is believed that removing a few inches from the tips of the horns causes the bull to miss its target. The belief is that some bulls learn in the campo to use the horns with such accuracy that they can pick off a fly. Others maintain that a bull is less likely to strike if its horns are sore, that the act of shaving makes them more sensitive. This doesn't convince me because a bull charges to inflict harm with its whole being, its weight, its speed and its strength. It charges at what it sees as a threat - man or beast or Land Rover.

Many have written and spoken about the importance of the integrity of the toro bravo; manipulation of any sort is constantly under attack by discerning aficionados, and criticism can be summed up as follows, which I found in one of Antonio Lorca's articles:

"Make no mistake: it is the toro bravo which is the main protagonist in the fiesta - undeniably indispensable, unequivocally so. But it must be wild, all-powerful, fierce, thoroughbred (‘encastado’) and tireless (‘noble’); it should be met with an outburst of applause when it charges into the ring; it must push against the picador's horse with a strength that comes from deep within; must respond to the banderillero's call at the gallop; and follow the muleta eagerly and with fixation. A toro bravo must create respect and fear in the tendidos, and command the full unswerving attention of members of the cuadrilla, and make them break out into a cold sweat ... Forget about all those words of praise for the 'artistic' toro, which doesn't mind being played, which collaborates with its adversary, is sweet-natured and exudes an agreeable temperament - tireless to the point of stupidity ['noble y tonto'] - all for the benefit of an individual, dancing around hopefully, dressed in a suit of lights ...

“‘A toro bravo should emote fear with its wild, untamed spirit (‘fiereza’), breeding (‘casta’) and a ceaseless commitment and tenacity throughout all the suertes of the lidia,’ in the words of the dearly-departed Victorino Martín Andrés."

In passing, a word about drugs, one of the favourite fantasies of the antis. This was answered very clearly for me by a matador who said that his life depended on judging what a bull was going to do next. If a bull is made unpredictable because it has been drugged, the matador is at a disadvantage, even at a greater risk. Most toros are sedated prior to transportation, to reduce the great stress this causes; it is essential that they are given time to recover completely on arrival at the plaza, and this is why any sedative must be given under the supervision of a trained vet, one with expert knowledge of the art of anaesthetics and especially how to balance the dose of a drug against the weight of a bull. It is equally important that a vet is present at the arrival of the bull at its destination to control its recovery, if necessary, with a further administration of a reversing drug. When sedatives are applied by inexperienced or unqualified personnel, as sometimes happens, one of the consequences can be the lamentable spectacle of a toro staggering into the ring clearly 'under the influence'. This is generally due to poor anaesthesia rather than intentional drugging to make the matador's job easier.

The picador's involvement in the lidia is critical: how many times does a ganadero say that their toro was destroyed in the pic, and sadly this is often true. This is not fraud in the traditional sense, but it is nevertheless clear that the picador's role needs to be better regulated. The Reglamento specifies that a toro should only be pic-ced in the target area of the morrillo, and too far forward or too far back can have disastrous results. I have a friend who was a plaza vet in a 2nd class ring and one temporada the team analysed all the pic wounds of every toro killed in the ring: not one was in the target area. This is as wrong as holding the pic for too long or twisting the vara to inflict more damage. The purpose of the pic is to provide resistance to the toro's charge, to allow it to show its strength. Most of the public don't know this and protest loudly when they see what they judge to be excessive 'punishment'. The picador and his employer - the matador - know that, by bending the rules, they can cut back the aggression of a spirited bull, especially important if they are to be allowed only one pic, which is the norm in most 2nd and 3rd class plazas nowadays. The authorities have paid great attention over the years to reducing the size of the horse and modifying the puya, whereas much more could be achieved just by controlling the picador's actions with meaningful fines for overlong varas outside the morrillo. There seems to be a reluctance to do this.

Breeding is a matter of selection and, in recent years, emphasis has been to breed out bravura in favour of dulzura - sweetness: what Vidal used to call 'melocotones en almíbar' - tinned peaches in sweet syrup. Some ganaderos, not all, have bred out aggressive qualities in favour of dulzura in order to be sure of selling their stock for the artistic toreros who dominate the carteles, so-called toros de garantía. These animals provide the material which self-styled toreros artistas can work with and the public likes to see. Figuras want a toro which is above all noble and weak, and so they demand particular ganaderias in their contract; to clinch the deal, the empresarios supply what is required. The result is 'no hay billetes' for the empresario and lots of ears for the public. Only the serious aficionado is disappointed and bored by a spectacle that has everything except emotion. In the face of current market forces, it is hard to imagine how this might ever be changed.

But - on the whole, some good news during the lockdown, of the presidents' resolution to tackle weaknesses in the Reglamento where it concerns the illegal shaving of horns, with the prospect of similar investigations to follow. At least it's a start!

A footnote to the relationship between Joaquín Vidal and Antonio Lorca: shortly after the death of Vidal, Lorca visited the widow, Pilar, to pay his respects and was surprised to receive a present from beyond the grave. He was told that Joaquín had instructed Pilar to give Antonio his old ballpoint pen with which he wrote so many of his chronicles. Full of emotion, Antonio said that he could never match the literary qualities which the previous owner had demonstrated with the ballpoint, but that he would endeavour to continue Joaquín's search for purity and honesty in the fiesta.

Ojalá!