topics
tools
Expatica countries
Index Last Var.(%)
BEL 20 2141.73 1.05
DAX 6401.68 0.97
IBEX 30 6543.5 0.01
CAC 40 3084.48 1.20
FTSE 100 5412.92 1.15
AEX 296.1 1.14
DJIA 12454.83 -0.60
Nasdaq 2837.53 -0.07
FTSE MIB 13246.84 0.70
TSX Composite 11576.47 0.09
ASX 4120.2 0.96
Hang seng 18800.99 0.47
Straits Times 2787.22 0.52
ISEQ 20 503.72 0.56
You are here: Home News Spanish News Fewer Spanish towns stage bullfights due to recession

Spanish News

archive
Enlarge font Decrease font Text size


12/08/2009Fewer Spanish towns stage bullfights due to recession

Tight budgets have forced local councils to cancel or scale back their annual bullfighting fiestas which can amount to hundreds of thousands of euros.

Madrid – Spain's steep recession has led dozens of cash-strapped local councils to scrap their annual bullfighting fiestas to save public money, official figures and bullfighting entrepreneurs said Tuesday.

The Madrid regional government said it had granted authorisations for 401 bullfighting festivals as of the beginning of August, a 20 percent drop over the same time last year due mainly to the economic slowdown.

Nearly 30 percent fewer bullfights have been staged across Spain this year, with the drop coming mostly in small towns where lesser known matadors perform, said former French bullfighter Simon Casas, one of Europe's biggest bullfighting impresarios.

"At the big festivals in Seville, Madrid and Bilbao, where the great matadors perform, you almost don't notice the crisis, but these are exceptional events," said Casas, who runs arenas in Nimes in France and Malaga in Spain.

"This has so far affected the more modest matadors, but it will soon enough affect the big ones."

The number of towns which included bullfights as part of their annual festivities shot up during Spain's 15-year economic boom, which came to an end late last year.

But with the country now mired in its worst recession in decades, many of these towns have seen their revenues from taxes and building licences fall sharply and can no longer afford to cover the tab of a bullfight.

The cost of a bullfight can vary between EUR 12,000 for a modest affair all the way up to EUR 180,000 for an event staged at Madrid's Las Ventas arena, the president of the Association of Fighting Bull Breeders, Eduardo Martin-Penato, told daily newspaper El Pais.

Part of the problem is that many bullfighters continue to demand the same fees which they collected when they were filling arenas, said bullfighting entrepreneur Luis Alvarez, who represents top Bolivian matador Luis Bolivar.

"If you are not drawing a crowd to the arena, you can't demand the same money you asked for when you filled the arena," said Alvarez, adding about 400 bullfighting festivals have been cancelled so far this year in Spain.

The cancellations of bullfights, which are often the highlight of a summer fiesta, have in some cases been met with anger by the public.

Dozens of people threw eggs, tomatoes and beer at the town hall of Pinto on Sunday as its mayor Juan Jose Martin stood on the balcony to officially open the town's annual festival which does not feature bulls this year.

The town of around 40,000 people located southeast of the Spanish capital justified the move on the need to chop EUR 300,000 from its budget for the week-long fiesta.

"You don't know how much it hurts me that this has taken place in our town. It's a shame that there are such uncivilised people," Martin told reporters after being jeered by the public.

Other towns like Manxanares el Real near Madrid have opted to stage shorter festivals involving fewer fights and younger, less expensive bulls instead of cancelling a bullfighting festival outright.

The decision to hold a more modest festival followed a referendum held in March on whether to scrap the fiesta outright for budgetary reasons that was deemed inconclusive because only about one in five eligible voters took part.

A slim majority, 52 percent, of those that did cast ballots voted to scrap the bullfighting, 35 percent voted to keep it as part of the fiesta and the rest chose a compromise which would see a scaled back festival.

AFP / Expatica


0 reactions to this article

Be the first person to add a comment

General rating: Not rated yet

Rate article:    Add my rating



0 reactions to this article

Be the first person to add a comment
Discussion Forums

Technology in Spain

Sat phones/internet links

English in Spain

What is the best travel insurance cover to Spain?

American in Spain

U.S. citizens, plan to vote in 2012? Did you know...

Relocation to Spain

thinking of moving to madrid

Jobs in Spain

Job Agencies or how to find work.

participate in the forums

Inside Expatica
Editor's Guide: Getting Started in Spain

Editor's Guide: Getting Started in Spain

Expatica's Getting Started section will provide practical information on how you can open a bank account, exchange your driving licence, improve your Spanish, and more.

Groups and Clubs in Madrid

Groups and Clubs in Madrid

Here's a guide to an extensive list of groups and clubs in Madrid for expats, from sports groups to social and family gatherings.

Groups and Clubs around Spain

Groups and Clubs around Spain

A brief introduction to our Tax section for Spain, from help with inheritance tax to accounting advice.

Groups and Clubs in Barcelona

Groups and Clubs in Barcelona

Here's a short introduction to our Banking section for those living in Spain, from what to ask the experts to opening a Spanish bank account.