Meet a Spaniard who isn’t in Estonia to teach flamenco dancing. A Spaniard who doesn’t drink sangria or smoke Ducados or travel by donkey or take a siesta every afternoon. What’s wrong with this guy?
A few days ago, I found myself in a situation that I’d never before faced: I met a girl who’d never been to Spain, and who claimed she wasn’t interested in visiting my country. It was at this moment when I realized that I am still a bit patriotic.
I left Spain three years ago, and everywhere I’ve been, I always felt that Spain was one of the most popular countries in Europe, and that everyone wanted to spend some time there, enjoying our privileged weather, gorgeous beaches, relaxed Spanish mood, the cultural diversity between north, south, east and west. Everyone asks me what the hell I’m doing in Estonia when I could be in Spain. Most of them probably think I’m a weirdo. But meeting this girl was the first time I didn’t have to justify myself.
I was so shocked that I had to ask her why Spain wasn’t on her “places to visit” list. I was somehow expecting to hear that a relative got robbed, a friend got into a fight, or that she had a Spanish boyfriend who turned out to be an asshole (I would like to apologize on the part of Spain if you ever meet a Spanish asshole). But none of these were her reasons. Her reason was stronger and more ethical. She wasn’t interested in visiting Spain until they forbid the bullfighting.
So no robbing, no fighting, no asshole. Bullfighting. Interesting. And sad, too. Sad because it’s a pity that such a big country with such an important culture and history is mainly known for bullfighting and flamenco.
Once joking with an Estonian friend, I told him that in school, girls had to learn flamenco, and boys had to learn bullfighting. And only sensitive boys, like Joaquín Cortés or Antonio Canales, chose flamenco. They didn’t seem to get the joke. That’s the strength of stereotypes I guess. French people bake baguettes and wear fancy moustaches; Italians wear huge sunglasses and steer a gondola; we do bullfighting and dance the flamenco after siesta.
What the girl doesn’t probably know is that comparing the statistics of 2009 and 2007, the amount of bullfighting shows decreased almost 30 percent. Spaniards are losing interest in this ancestral tradition. Still, the numbers are quite impressive. Last year, 1,848 bullfighting shows took place in Spain. More than 10,000 bulls were fought, and the business moved nearly 2.5 billion euros, employing 200,000 people.
But there’s little interest among younger generations. It’s hard to find young people in a bullfighting arena (I have never been myself), and kids don’t dream of being Manolete anymore. They want to be football players or pop stars. The golden days for bullfighters are gone. No woman would dream of spending her life next to a man who risks his life fighting an innocent bull only to satisfy the bloodlust of thousands of soulless spectators.
Last July, Catalonia, one of Spain’s seventeen autonomous communities, showed that it’s far ahead of the rest of the nation. In a controversial decision, the regional government thrust a sword deep into the Spanish fiesta by banning bullfighting in its territory. But the irony is that the controversy came mainly from other territories. It’s as if bullfighting fans are offended because, since July, they’re no longer able to enjoy their passion in Catalonia. Or maybe it’s the fear of modernity that scares them. All international media reported the Catalonians’ pioneer decision and wondered if it would be the first step toward the definitive end of bullfighting. But the supporters and people involved in the business can relax. I don’t think a national ban will come anytime soon. Who’d want to go down in history as the prime minister who banned bullfighting?
Even if I consider the attitude of the Estonian girl to be quite extreme, I still respect it. And it’s admirable to find people with strong convictions and forward-looking attitudes. But I missed my chance to ask her if she’d ever thought about visiting China, the USA, Japan or Canada, other countries with controversial traditions or a serious lack of human and animal rights protections.
If we had to avoid countries that still have the death penalty, hunt whales, sell weapons, or don’t have freedom of expression, we’d never leave our own neighborhood. So, I’d like to invite the girl, if by any chance she happens to read this article, to visit Spain and join the movement against bullfighting which many NGOs and activist groups have organized. That way, her feelings would be made whole by actions, and at the same time she’d discover a really amazing country.
Andrés Gallardo Albajar, formerly of Alicante, came to Estonia despite its stereotypical reputation for weak coffee, outrageously overpriced tapas and bad weather.