The New York Times published an excellent piece this morning on the fate of matadors in Northeast Spain. Facing an aging, brutal event with high ticket prices (think opera), the public is slowly mandating that bullfighting needs to slip away from both global and national consciousness. There's one notable exception: José Tomás.
Tomás was at the absolute height of his game when he retired seven years ago. Like many famous athletes, the game called him back and he returned with a stunning streak of sellout performances that are keeping the crowds talking. Last Sunday, he might have participated in the last bullfight ever in Catalonia.
"Over the last three decades or so, dwindling interest among young Catalans has combined with pressure from animal-rights advocates and from Catalan nationalists to cripple toreo in Catalonia," writes Michael Kimmelman in the Times. "Across the region’s four provinces, bullrings have closed; Barcelona’s is the only one still active."
The Catalan Parliament recently introduced a high-profile referendum that would end bullfighting all together. The subject has been on the tips of tongues for so long that it's not really surprising to anyone involved. Long the dream of animal fights activists, now even aficionados feel the days of bullfighting are numbered."
Kimmelman continues, "Sunday’s corrida — the term refers to an afternoon’s regular card of three matadors and six bulls — was more than just the last bullfight of the season. It was possibly the end of an era. And José Tomás (José Tomás Román Martín, but everybody knows him by his double-barreled first name) had come, in what seemed almost like a last-ditch attempt, to lend his box office appeal and artistry to the anti-ban side."
We recommend heading over to the New York Times website to read the full article.
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