All too familiar
Paco Aguado, the author of one of the best modern books on the history of bullfighting, Joselito El Gallo, rey de los toreros, has this month published a new book, Historias del toreo que nunca te contaron (‘Stories of bullfighting you’ve never been told’).
According to the publishers, Aguado has produced “an original and resounding demonstration of the assertion that bullrings have been a perfect reflection of Spain’s history.” In the opening chapter, ‘Un paseo por la cultura de un pueblo’ (albeit less a walk and more of a gallop from the ancient times of the totemic standing of the bull of the Mediterranean to the recent ascendancies of José Tomás and Morante de la Puebla), Aguado himself writes: “Bullfighting is still the great metaphor of existence, the staged, organized and evident representation of the struggle between man and nature; an exaltation of vitalism, the eternal triumph of reason over force and life’s conscientiousness about death […] Over hundreds of years, bullfights, in all their rough beauty, have taught generations of Spaniards, the French, Portuguese and Americans, taken by their older relatives to the tendidos, how to assume responsibility - as the torero does with the bull - to face everyday problems […].
“Over the course of millenia, [toreo] - heritage of the people and humanity - is […] best understood by placing it in its political, economic, social or cultural context, interwoven as it is; one of Spanish history’s most significant occurrences. Occasionally, in the face of forgetfulness and biased revisionism, it’s useful to look back on some of the moments, individuals and details that demonstrate this, for instance in the last century. Perhaps this is how the ups and downs are best understood of a cultural act that is woven in light and shade and is difficult to address, but which permeates and reflects almost everything.”
Aguado then sets about telling the story of bullfighting in the hundred years from 1898 by focusing on its negative standing at the time of Spain’s ‘Disaster’ (the loss of its colonies in its war with America); the return of intellectuals’ admiration for the corrida following Belmonte’s arrival; the poet Miguel Hernández’s contact with toreo; the temporada of 1936, the first year of Spain’s Civil War; the post-war political activities of falangist-cum-communist Pepe Dominguín, brother of Luis Miguel; Hemingway’s ‘dangerous summer’ of 1959; Miguelín’s 1968 protest against El Cordobés; the newly-legalised Spanish Communist Party’s support for bullfighting in the late 1970s; los toros during the time of Madrid’s ‘La movida’ cultural awakening; and the life of ex-banderillero Antonio Corbacho, mentor to José Tomás and Alejandro Talavante.
Given the book’s title, it is surprising that Aguado has picked on these particular topics, for the majority are already well-known and much written about. The stories are well told, but there is little new here; for this aficionado, the only revelation was that of Miguel Hernández being a contributor to Cossío’s Los Toros. The chapter on the movida madrileña might also have carried new insights, but it’s the one where the linkage to toreo appears most stretched, and Aguado’s frequent listings of celebrities and concerts leaves one with the impression that those times had a particular impact on the author rather than on toreo.
Perhaps the surprise hinted at in the book’s title for many readers in today’s politically polarised times is the degree to which, during the century covered, bullfighting was looked on favourably by Spain’s Left. Often, however, Aguado simply recounts the history rather than drawing comparisons with today, although, towards the book’s end, he departs from this approach by commenting that: “It seems that nowadays in Spain, no politicians of the Left or even members of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español want or dare to defend bullfighting, nor try to put a stop to the abolitionist fever that’s been stated in plain language in the formative ideology of the strange and new, supposedly Leftist, current that’s emerged in the Podemos tide. […] Perhaps the most disappointed person in all this is [ex-matador] José Luis Parada, who, through his own beliefs, frequently appeared in a traje de luces or de corto for the Partido Comunista de España [who makes this] personal reflection: ‘Today’s Left has disappointed us in so many things that I’m not surprised it is now against los toros. The truth is we have very few examples of good politicians who know how to understand what bullfighting still signifies. I would just tell them to worry about all the more important and more serious problems that continue to affect people. For, if toreo must die, it will do it by itself because society has decided so - not because of some politicians who’ve lost even the recent memory of how their own parties behaved towards it.’”
The topic selection is also somewhat strange given the objective of setting out bullfighting’s role in Spanish history and society. There is no chapter on Manolete, for instance, despite his standing and significance in Spain’s difficult years after the Civil War. El Cordobés - another figure of considerable cultural and social importance - is only touched on marginally in the story of Miguelín, while the similar level of national media and social attention given to Jesulín de Ubrique in the 1990s is also absent from the book. A strong case could also have been made as to bullfighting’s popularity rising at times of social pressure, e.g. during the ‘Years of Hunger’ or the country’s emergence from the Covid pandemic, and at times when Spain’s identity has been called into question, e.g. after Spain’s admittance to the European Union or during the recent conflict over the status of Catalunya.