(Second and last)
In this space last Tuesday I made a very brief chronicle of the origin of the popular art of bullfighting and its roots in our culture. I want to clarify that what is written goes beyond my fondness for the Fiesta Brava; it is a defense against a prohibition that violates the rights of those who work in this artistic and cultural manifestation. I also accept the allegation of the animalists who are against bullfighting because it is a show where, from their point of view, the animal is mistreated. But, I ask those who perceive bullfighting as a bloody ritual: Have they witnessed on any trail how they kill cattle, pigs and other animals whose meat is displayed in supermarkets? Do you know how many hundreds of thousands or millions of cattle die each year in brutal conditions to serve as food for human beings?
With all due respect, I ask bullfighting opponents to find out the answers to the questions I ask before attacking a show that is “a very important engine of the national economy”, as stated by engineer Eduardo Castillo García in his magnificent Our bull book: “Around the bull ranchers, junior bullfighters, businessmen, transporters, artists, media, box office printers, ushers, vendors, monosabios … and an endless list of sources of work.” Here I would add to the cowboys and caporales of the cattle ranches; to the tailors of bullfighters; to those who manufacture capes, puyas, flags, crutches, swords. To those who sell food and souvenirs outside the squares. In short, a whole industry that lives thousands of people who would lose their jobs if the animal owners had their way
The great cause of the animalists who achieved the abolition of animals in the circus, without knowing later what to do with the 4,500 animals that stopped acting to die inhumanly, is the brave bull; Of which, I might bet, they know very little about his upbringing and life in the ranch before being sent to the squares to be fought to the death.
The engineer Castillo wrote: “All the mysteries included in his upbringing —obviously the fighting bull— give him that majesty that the king does. However, contemplating him in the stillness and grandeur of the wild countryside, he remains with the tranquility of someone who, knowing his power and ability, does not flinch in the presence of anyone, looks disdainfully at the man, turns around and returns to that peace in which his destiny awaits ”.
The fighting bull is not only the basis of the Fiesta Brava, it is also the essence of the entire ecosystem in which it lives, the basis of the biodiversity of the dehesa where the flora and fauna of the region where it is installed are developed. . If the fighting bull disappears with him, hundreds of animals and plants that his presence favors would disappear.
If bullfighting disappears, a popular art that is part of our culture would be finished. I finish my writing with an ironic phrase by the Spanish writer Rubén Amón (1969): “If bullfighting is not culture, worse for culture.”
Anecdote
In the early sixties, he used to attend the bullfights in the Plaza México accompanied by Don Cacahuate, a buff bullfighter, a character from the picaresque bullfighting. At that time, racial segregation still existed in some regions of the United States, from where tourists came to Mexico; some, out of curiosity, attended the bulls. One afternoon, Don Cacahuate and I had in front of us a couple of gringos who when the calf received the first blow, they shouted in the sky. They both turned back, she with her eyes closed, he with a gesture of repulsion: Don Cacahuate told them: “It’s okay, they hurt him, but not because he is an animal, but because he is black.”
Writer and television scriptwriter
The Privilege of Opinion
Mexican television scriptwriter. Known for having made the scripts for programs such as Salad de Locos, La carabina de Ambrosio, La Güereja and something else, El privilegio de command, among others.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx