Dilip Kuner
SPAIN’S bullfighters are set to return to the ring in August – provided they can get the official go ahead.
Some of the biggest names in the sport met at the Sevilla home of Peruvian born superstar matador Andrés Roca Rey.
They were trying to come up with a plan to tackle the crisis which the bullfighting industry has been plunged into by the coronavirus lockdown.
Part of the proposals the group put forward included a drastically reduced spectator capacity at fights. A pledge to give each attendee nine square metres of space means that capacity at even the largest rings would be reduced to 1,000 or fewer.
Some of the biggest name matadors including Enrique Ponce, Morante, Manzanares, Escribano and Aguado complained that they were being discriminated against by the government.
They argued that the industry should have been eligible for grants given to help the arts sector thought the coronavirus lockdown. Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez said he was uncomfortable with classing bullfighting as an art.
Their proposals for restarting fights are based on television income, although no concrete date has been set or approved by the government.
