Last Sunday, Morante de la Puebla participated in the traditional BENEFICIENCY IN THE SALES OF MADRID. The enthusiasm of the attendees was evident to what was considered a historical milestone: the Matador opened for the first time the big door of the square, which consecrates him as a reference of current bullfighting. But above all, it served to corroborate that bulls They are no longer the popular entertainment of decades agobut a kind of cultural artifact for a very specific niche of conservative young people.
The Moranties. Morante de la Puebla is considered one of the most relevant bullfighters of today, so it is not surprising its success too much, but the youth of its followers has attracted attention. First with a viral video Uploaded by the sales account where fierce followers were heading to the big door. There it was generated A tumult and some traffic jams that led the police even to visit the bullfighter at the hotel to ask for identification and explanations.
The fervor of young people even tried to try Take the bullfighter on shoulders to his hotelat a couple of kilometers from Las Ventas, which would have forced to cut a main artery of Madrid, Alcalá Street. But this is only the last youth fervor sample for the national holiday.
“Cayetano” power. A fervor that aligns perfectly with the rest of the demands of youth “Cayetana“, who have endorsed the assimilation of the national holiday that has been made from the right. These young people have no complexes to identify with a conservative ideology and have Taken the bulls From an identity perspective. Events such as the weekend with Morante make clear codes: They make bullfighters into rock stars and identify fun and ideological combat with a celebration that they know is controversial.
The Pope’s youth. These young people (which are not a block, but are diversified in very different social strata and claiming intentions, exactly like it happens with their “adult” counterparts) are claiming beliefs that until recently they were considered vetoed at these ages, such as Catholicism, becoming mass pop phenomena to groups like Hakuna. And they have their own Modern idol pantheonbetween him Kitsch and provocation, where cults such as Victoria Federica either Tamara Falcó.
Thrown weapon. In recent times, bulls have become a Throwing weapon between political factionsbut in the opposite direction as usual during the history of bullfighting: conservative parties defend bullfighting by associating it with tradition and purely Spanish values, and leftist formations advocate for their disappearance. In 2023, for example, it was discussed if the bulls had to be included in the young cultural bond that gave 400 euros to spend on film, music and other cultural products. The Supreme Court ended up forcing the socialist minister Miquel Iceta to Include bulls in the bonus.
Bull fight. Ten years before, the PP in the government regulated bullfighting and awarded a national award of 30,000 euros. That is, he considered bulls de facto as a cultural good, which is the consideration that the left It has been for years Trying to refute. In 2024, add eliminated the National Bullfighting Award. The response of the PP and several conservative regional governments: create alternative awards reinforcing the Institutional support for bulls. In 2025, 664,000 signatures forced Congress to discuss If the legal protection of bullfighting was eliminated as cultural heritage. The prohibition or regulation of runs would remain in the hands of autonomies. A true ball of prohibitions and permits that make bulls into pure cultural war.
And this It is reflected in voters: Support is low among left -wing voters (only 5.2% of PSOE voters declare in favor), while among PP and Vox voters exceed 58% and 61% respectively.
Is it so much? But while bulls are increasing Bullfighting activity fell From 16,698 to 15,883 annual events, playing historical minimums during the pandemic. However, since then, the sector has registered a recovery: in 2023 and 2024 the 6.2 million viewers have been exceeded and more than 20,950 celebrations have been held in 2024, The highest figure of the last fifteen years. But you have to take this data with tweezers: these figures include the big runs and also the popular festivities type enclosures and heifers.
However, and although projects like “Bull streaming“They were shipwrecked, it is unquestionable that there is a renewed interest among young people in bullfighting. Although the figures, as usual in celebrations like these, which diversify in very different ways, are diffuse.
Bullfighting, entertainment to claim. On the other hand, a review of the History of bullfighting It allows to verify that his popular perception has given bands since its origins. In our country the first historical reference dates from the year 1080, already linked to entertainment for the nobility, where it would remain during the Middle Ages. Despite certain clashes with the Church (in 1567 Pope Pius V threatened the excommunication of those who supported the runs), continued for centuries linked to power, with kings very fond of runs, such as Felipe III or Felipe IV. But in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they began to release heifers and bulls in streets and squares, and celebrations such as fire bulls or bulls appeared.
The run, however, remained linked to the aristocracy to the reign of Felipe V, which prohibited them. The runs arrived in the town, which welcomed them as a brutal and bloody show, being many killers and butchers from the markets.
The rich do not know how to fight. Paradoxically, for decades the bullfighting show tried to be fought by successive governments and kings linked to the Enlightenment, such as Carlos III, which in 1778 prohibited runs. The absolutist Fernando VII I would restore them to please the increasingly powerful economic interests in livestock and squares. The controversy is flattened in the first quarter of the twentieth century, when measures such as protect horsesespecially to view of the spectators, and that they did not have to contemplate animals destroyed by the bull in the square. The farmers reduced the size and ferocity of the bull, thus creating modern bullfighting, more affordable for all audiences.
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