Worrying figures
The website mundotoro.com has just published some worrying statistics about Spain’s 2023 temporada. Last season (the first ‘normal’ temporada since the Covid pandemic) there was a view that bullfighting had recovered well, with over 1,000 festejos held in Spain - over 200 more than in the last pre-Covid temporada of 2019 and the highest number achieved in any year in the last decade. This season, spectator attendance generally remains high and the numbers of young spectators appear to be increasing, but the stark reality, as at the beginning of August, is as follows:
345 festejos mayores (corridas, novilladas con picadores and corridas de rejoneo) had taken place this year compared with 587 at the same time last year - a fall of 41.22%.
Only 170 places in Spain had held bullfights - 65% fewer compared to the situation in 2022. This is part of a long-term trend; in 2008, just prior to that year’s economic crisis taking hold, 568 locations had put on festejos by this time of the year.
The sectors most affected are corridas de rejoneo and novilladas con picadores. Only 47 rejoneo events took place up to the end of July, compared to 93 at the same time last year - a fall of 49.5%. Novilladas con picadores have fallen by 38.8%, with 101 such festejos so far this year compared to 165 in 2022. Meanwhile, corridas de toreros de a pie have fallen by 29.1%, from 272 in 2022 to 193 in the first half of this year.
Of course, no torero is bent on achieving a total of 100 corridas this year as Morante de la Puebla was in 2022, with the consequent upsurge in corrida numbers that involves, but there are other reasons behind this fall in festejos:
The need for public authorities to tighten their belts in the face of a cost of living crisis sparked by the Russia-Ukraine war and the fact that countries’ economies are still emerging from the pandemic.
No need for local ‘feelgood’ measures now that local government elections have taken place.
The limited numbers of toros de lidia following measures taken by ganaderías during the pandemic to reduce their herds, and the consequent increase in costs for the animals that remain.
The impact of inflation more generally. Mundotoro.com reckons it now costs some 47-50,000 euros to put on a novillada con picadores in a 3rd class plaza and approximately 80,000 euros to mount a corrida. The cost of living crisis has also meant that people have had less money to spend on entertaining themselves.
The website is critical of the efforts of the Fundación del Toro de Lidia to re-introduce bullfighting in places where festejos used to be held but have since ceased. These figures, it is argued, show that the project is not working. Furthermore, the FTL’s strategy of putting on events subsidised by the local comunidad has meant that smaller public authorities have become reluctant to provide any financial support to festejos at all.
It is clear that, the way bullfighting is currently organised, its drift away from the countryside will continue and the corrida will become essentially an urban spectacle aimed largely at middle and upper-class spectators, these being the people able to afford tickets. And the drift away from corridas with toreros modestos towards corridas featuring the figuras will also continue. The big empresas and the figuras (none of whom seem willing to acknowledge the realities of the current situation) will continue to pocket money in the short-term. But what about the long-term? Bullfighting relies on youngsters coming through and becoming the figuras of tomorrow. But, the way things are going, how will these youngsters gain the necessary experience and how many people are seriously going to contemplate embarking upon a career as a torero?
The shortage of bulls will last for two or three more seasons. What’s important is that, during this time, the structure the temporada appears to be taking this season doesn’t become set in stone. The mundillo needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Subalterno earnings have already come down, but matadors’ earnings need to reduce too as part of a more general push to lower the costs of the spectacle, offer the public truly affordable ticket prices and grow festejos’ geographical spread. Sufficient numbers of novilladas and corridas for toreros modestos need to take place in order to maintain bullfighting’s career structure. Otherwise, we will continue to be witnessing bullfighting on its path to extinction.