Is El Batán fit for purpose?
The May 18 press release from the Real Unión de Criadores de Toros de Lidia (RUCTL), referring to a letter sent that week to la Comunidad de Madrid (CAM), owners of Las Ventas, could not have been blunter: “The Union asks the director gerente del Centro de Asuntos Taurinos de la CAM to suspend the exhibition of bulls [at La Venta del Batán].”
The RUCTL had a number of complaints:
The CAM’s decision to require the successful tenderer for Las Ventas to display 50% of the plaza’s bulls at El Batán was taken without prior consultation with the Unión.
The current process of requiring some ganaderías, but not all, to place their bulls in El Batán is discriminatory.
Unlike other 1st class rings, such as Pamplona, Dax or Arles, where bulls are displayed to the public beforehand, the veterinary inspection of animals exhibited at El Batán does not take place on their arrival there, but later once they have been moved to the Las Ventas corrales.
The installations at El Batán require improvement in order to enable veterinary inspections to take place there.
The letter was sent after a number of ganaderos whose bulls had appeared at El Batán had expressed concerns, and further problems occurred as the Feria de San Isidro progressed:
El Parralejo could only supply four bulls for its corrida after one was injured by a fellow bull whilst at El Batán and another was turned down by the Las Ventas veterinarios “por falta de trapío”.
José Escolar had to replace two bulls exhibited at El Batán and opted to keep those bulls in which he had most confidence (one of whom later received a vuelta en arrastre) at the finca before sending them direct to Las Ventas.
Five of the nine bulls that Pedro Moya Niño de la Capea ended up sending to El Batán were later rejected by the veterinarios as being unsuitable.
Luis Algarra was another ganadería unable to field a complete corrida after two of its bulls lost weight at El Batán.
Adolfo Martín had to replace one bull whose physical appearance had deteriorated whilst at El Batán.
Escolares at El Batán - two of the bulls were later rejected
La Venta del Batán was constructed 60 years ago and, prior to its reopening last autumn, had not been used for the best part of 20 years. During this time, the breeding of toros bravos has evolved considerably and ganaderos have become much more aware of the animals’ sensibilities. Antonio Bañuelos, the RUCTL’s president, summed up the problems that El Batán poses: “Altering the habitat at the point of embarkation to la Venta del Batán already involves a risk. Losing the routine of food, of exercise… And it’s not a matter of the regulation 48 hours in the corrals, but up to 12 days, with people not very far away, noises, all kind of changes that involve distractions and can produce fights amongst the animals and noticeable losses of weight. And then they’re taken by lorry once again to Las Ventas where they are officially weighed.”
The toro bravo is a nervous animal and easily stressed to the point where it can stop eating or drinking. Nowadays, regular exercise of the toro bravo is considered important, with food and drink placed far apart on the fincas and some ganaderos running their animals daily. But bulls at El Batán have comparatively little space in which to move.
In el Niño de la Capea’s case, even putting an encierro of his bulls in one corral was a major change to what his animals were accustomed to. “My bull lives in total freedom and practically on an individual basis as, unlike other ganaderías, I do not keep the animals in herds. In this encaste, once the bulls become of age, they fight amongst themselves so much that we have to separate them into groups of two, three or four.
“[…] There are small details that can affect these animals. For instance, water - if a bull drinks natural water or rainwater and it’s altered for water with chloride and other additives considered suitable for humans, the animal doesn’t accept it so easily and stress results that greatly influences its behaviour in the bullring.”
“Weight loss, accidents, cornadas,” commented Aurora Algarra, “and then, if a bull has lost 40 kilos, the veterinario rejects it - in these circumstances, what’s the benefit of going to El Batán?”
Not all ganaderos feel the same. Victoriano del Río (who was not asked to display his bulls at El Batán this feria) says, “The ganaderos who have the privilege of appearing in Madrid - for it is, indeed, a privilege - should make a sacrifice for the wellbeing of la Fiesta. This is the most influential plaza, the most international, and we should do things that attract more of the public […]. People enjoy going to El Batán with their families and children and it’s our obligation to be there - ojalá there’ll be bulls in the corrales all year round. Clearly, many things need to be improved in terms of infrastructure and organisation, etc., but we should continue to support such activities.” Aurora Algarra, however, points out that, to date, the top ganaderos have not been asked to display their bulls at El Batán and the costs involved of having bulls injured or rejected are falling on the smaller ganaderías.
Adolfo Martín took particular account of his bulls being displayed at El Batán: “I brought to El Batán bulls that had travelled previously - one was in Valencia, another was here for the Feria de Otoño last year and was also exhibited at El Batán - and this helped in a way because they travelled more calmly and are less stressed by the change in habitat, the travelling, the different food.”
An El Parralejo bull at El Batán later fought by Ángel Téllez
But there is only so much a ganadero can do faced with the empresa’s wish for his or her bulls to be exhibited at El Batán (Miguel Abellán, speaking on behalf of CAM, has indicated that the issues raised by the RUCTL’s letter are for the empresa and ganaderías alone to resolve). With CAM’s requirement that 50% of the bulls fought in Madrid be displayed at El Batán, there is scope for having fewer, but larger, corrales at the location - and, indeed, there is plenty of space in the Casa de Campo for the corrales to be expanded further or for an exercise track to be provided should the ganaderos so desire. The viewing arrangements could be altered too - in France, for example, the public tend to be situated at a higher level than at El Batán and often behind one-way glass so that their presence does not disturb the bulls. Keeping animals for less time at El Batán (which, indeed, seemed to happen as San Isidro progressed) and having the vets’ inspections there, rather than at Las Ventas, could also be accommodated.
The main problem that cannot be addressed whilst El Batán remains in its current use is the double embarkation en puntas of the animals, initially to El Batán and then to Las Ventas. Perhaps, because of this, a different use for El Batán should be considered. Antonio Bañuelos comments once more: “No one wants La Venta del Batán to be closed because it has an important role in terms of the escuela taurina based there. I think it’s a very appropriate site for the creation of a Centro de Interpretación del Toro de Lidia, where bulls could be present all year round - a covered building where you could show videos teaching colleges and groups about the work involved in managing bulls on ranches. What El Batán should not do, however, is put at risk the work that ganaderías have carried out on their animals for over four years.”