A group of fans want to recover the bullfighting celebrations in Orihuela

The Orihuela bullring will have a second life years after its controversial partial demolition and rehabilitation. A group of bullfighting fans are promoting, together with the City Council, the creation of a social club and museum of the history of bullfighting in Orihuela in the empty ground floor next to the bullring on Obispo Rocamora street.

The name of the entity about to be founded is the Association of Practical Amateurs of Orihuela and its president is the former Oriolano bullfighter Mariano Marín. Promoted by former members of the extinct bullfighting club on Calle de la Acequia (closed for more than a year), its objective is to “return the hope” to that “silent” hobby of bullfighting in a city, whose close connection with the The national holiday slowly faded away since Valentín Luján took over the alternative from Paquirri in 1983. A celebration that, the oldest remember, went down in the annals of the city's history as the last bullfight hosted by the bullring of Orihuela.

With the impulse of the memory of those memorable afternoons, their intention is to establish a coffee bar in one of the premises for holding tastings, gatherings and brotherhood meals. The facilities, in fact, are prepared to accommodate a kitchen. In the other location, these fans are compiling what will be the basis of a museographic tour of the bullfighting history of Orihuela with old photography, historical documents, costumes, heads or period posters from private collections.

Release of heifers

Their enthusiasm, in fact, is so great that they already have the support of the City Council for this initiative. Yesterday, without going any further, they received an illustrious visit that, they hope, will be the first of many. Pedro Gutiérrez, better known as El Niño de la Capea, visited his Oriolano followers and, as manager of up to three important ranches in Salamanca and Extremadura, was interested in the current state of the Oriolano bullring. There he was also received by the president of the Moros y Cristianos, Manuel Ortuño, who attended, as an advisor, representing the municipal government team.

The right-hander shared his opinion with his co-religionists about the good general condition of the building and his wish that it could be fully adapted to accommodate bullfights, release of heifers and some small-format bullfights, whether altruistic or for exhibition for those who are just starting out. the world of fighting.

The main objective of this new association is for the square to once again burst with life and be filled, not only with bullfighting shows, but also with all kinds of cultural events. In fact, to host a bullfighting festival, some low-cost adaptations would be necessary, they indicate, such as the installation of an alley and bullfighting sheds and the replacement of pigsty doors with more suitable ones. The rest of the necessary elements, whether corrals or extra stands, could be rented.

This group of bullfighting lovers even encourage the City Council to invest in an activity like bullfighting, which, they defend, “is also culture.” In this sense, they envy cases like that of Lorca, where a bullfight by Paco Ureña will reopen the Sutullena bullring, damaged by the 2011 earthquake.

No prohibitions

They remember that the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community overturned the motion, approved in plenary session in 2015, to declare Orihuela as an anti-bullfighting city. A step that, this group of bullfighting fans insists, leaves the door open to the return to the Oriolano ring of morlacos and calves.

Rescuing the Bullring from ruin was one of the star projects of former mayor Emilio Bascuñana. Since its official reopening, the venue has been used very rarely for a concert and, above all, for parties and meals organized by the Moors and Christians troupes. The last of them during last Halloween.