The Diputación de Albacete and the Toro de Lidia Foundation presented on Thursday at the provincial palace the second edition of the Taurino-Cultural Week that will take place in the capital of Albacete and will be accompanied by gastronomic events and a tentadero contest from March 31 to April 6.
The coordinator of the Toro de Lidia Foundation chapter in Albacete, Antonio Martínez, has announced that the week will include artistic, musical, cinematic, and gastronomic events. The opening will be on March 31 at 19:15 at the La Asunción cultural center with a bullfighting exhibition of costumes from different bullfighters who have passed through the province.
On April 1, the book ‘The Spanish Fighting Bull’ by the writer Julián Tomás García will be presented at the same cultural center. On Wednesday, April 2, the events will move to the Teatro Circo, where the new book by Andrés Amorós ‘The One Hundred Best Bullfighting Poems’ will be presented exclusively, followed by a panel discussion of experts on the current state of bullfighting.
On April 3, a tribute to the breeder Samuel Flores moderated by the journalist Javier Ruiz will take place, with the participation of bullfighters like Ortega Cano, César Rincón, or Enrique Ponce in the auditorium of the Diputación. On April 4, there will be a roundtable discussion on the role of women in bullfighting at the La Asunción cultural center, and a concert of bullfighting pasodobles will take place at the municipal auditorium.
On April 5, there will be a children’s visit to the Albacete bullring at 10:00 in the morning, and in the afternoon, the film «Afternoons of Solitude» will be presented with a pre-screening discussion at the Filmoteca.
On Sunday, April 6, the second novilleros tentadero contest will take place in a private cattle farm in Albacete, in accordance with the current regulations of Castilla-La Mancha. The events will be free, except for the pasodobles concert and the film screening at the Filmoteca.
GASTRONOMIC EVENTS
The gastronomic events will take place from April 3 to 6, where a total of 13 local establishments in the city will offer special dishes made with bull meat of «high quality and originality» with a maximum price of ten euros, accompanied by wines from the Manchuela designation of origin, as explained by Martínez.
«We said last year that we wanted the taurino-cultural week to stay in Albacete, and this year we have put a lot of enthusiasm and work into organizing it,» said the coordinator of the Albacete chapter, who thanked institutions such as the provincial Diputación and the City Council for carrying out the three bullfighting events.
The President of the Diputación, Santiago Cabañero, defended bullfighting as «not only a legally recognized cultural expression, by tradition and vocation, but also a driving force for development in this province where more than half of the municipalities celebrate some type of bullfighting event.» Cabañero argued that the world of bullfighting «attracts a lot of tourism» and «contributes to the most depopulated rural areas,» thanking the organizers and participants for their support for bullfighting «without any complexes and from a humanistic point of view.»
The President of the Toro de Lidia Foundation, Victorino Martín, explained during the press conference that the goal of his organization is to «normalize the relationship that society has with the world of bullfighting because it is a fundamental activity in our country.» Martín acknowledged the work of institutions such as «Castilla-La Mancha and particularly Albacete, which is a bullfighting powerhouse» for their defense of the bull and respect for a tradition «that is nothing more than a hymn to freedom and cultural diversity.»
The coordinator of the Delegation of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, Ramón García, reaffirmed the commitment of the Government of Emiliano García-Page to bullfighting through initiatives such as «broadcasting it on Castilla-La Mancha Televisión or reinstating the National Bullfighting Awards.» García stated that they will «continue to fight to preserve this important tradition» in the region.