The Number One Enemy of the Fiesta Brava – La Union de Banderilleros y Picadores
by Jim Verner - Mon, 2 Apr 2007 06:48:33 -0700 (PDT)

While we aficionados often think the radical animal-rights people are the main threat to the future of bullfighting, I am convinced we have it wrong. The group that is doing the greatest damage to the fiesta brava, at least in Mexico, is the Union de Banderilleros y Picadores in Mexico. Last year, in a benefit festival in Tlajomulco, Jalisco, that featured matadors and aficionados, the Union of subalternos tried to insist that union members were contracted at wages that were beyond the ability of the organizers to pay. As I reported at that time, the matadors performed completely free and the aficionados paid for their novillos, and the organizers refused to accept the monetary demands of the union. The union, while powerless to stop the event, told the novillero that was scheduled that if he appeared they would boycott him in an upcoming novillada. The “cuadrilla” for the festival was composed of matadors who had the power and conviction to thumb their noses at the subalterno’s union, but the novillero missed a chance to fight a bull.

Now, in the recent festivals held in Tlaquepaque on March 10, the subalterno union again raised its ugly head, and demanded that a number of its members were contracted at official rates. In the case of this festival, it was not a benefit: entry was free and the organization was headed by the town government of Tlaquepaque with the objective of bringing more aficion to the historical plaza of this Guadalajara suburb.

The aficionados paid for their animals and gave gratuities to non-union subalternos. So what could the subalterno union do? The again threatened novilleros who would have liked to help us with a boycott, and then they went one step further. The threatened the supplier of the picador horses that if he rented one of his horses to the festival they would boycott him. So, at the last minute, the participants chipped in and bought a horse and peto, which they then sold at a loss after the festival.

Aficionado practicos events may not be enjoyed by all aficionados, but they are an important part of bullfighting in Mexico and contribute to the growth and strength of la fiesta brava. For example:

1. For ganaderos, festivals provide an outlet for animals they either have in excess or for some reason do not wish to sell to novilladas or corridas de toros.
   
2. Since festivals are usually free or have a modest ticket price, they offer many people who may not be able to afford the high prices of formal corridas and novilladas a chance to go to a bullfight.
   
3. The free entry/modest prices of festivals encourage people to bring their children. Some of them will become serious aficionados, and anything that can help bring young people to bullfighting should be applauded by aficionados (even those who do not like aficionado practico festivals) and professionals (whose future depends on younger people joining the ranks of aficionados.
   
4. When the subalterno union does not get in the way, these festivals are also opportunities for maletillas and novilleros to gain experience.
   
5. Bullfight photographers sell photos to aficionados practicos, thereby supplementing their income.
   
6. Professional toreros often help aficionados practicos arrange the purchase and transport of the young novillos used in the festivals and they are paid for their efforts.
   
7. Plazas that would otherwise sit empty are rented to festival organizers.
   
8. And, while no aficionado claims to be of professional stature, there are many that do a very respectable job of toreo.

Yet, in spite of these and other benefits, the Union of Subalternos continues its short-sighted attitudes that neither help them nor help the fiesta brava. Will they ever change their attitude? I wonder.

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