Letter from Spain #49

You can't defend something just because it's a tradition ...

It was an odd week this week. In Catalonia, Tuesday felt like a Friday and then Thursday felt like a Monday, because 1 May (‘El Día del Trabajador’) is celebrated as a bank holiday across the whole of Spain whatever day it falls on.

In Madrid, Asturias, Cantabria and Navarra, Thursday would have felt like another Saturday - as ‘Dos de Mayo’ was also a holiday in Madrid - and the Thursday and Friday had been declared as school holidays in the other regions, so for many it was just a two-day week. But no complaints … and I’ve written about these ‘puentes’ and ‘viaductos’ in a previous post.

In what could be a passage from The Barcelona Connection, the Spanish government said on Friday that it is scrapping a national prize for bullfighting. The annual prize, which was created in 2011 and was first awarded in 2013, normally grants €30,000 to winners - €10,000 more than the state’s prize for literature.

Spain’s Culture Ministry said that it had based its decision to abolish the award on the ‘new social and cultural reality in Spain’, where worries about animal welfare have risen while attendance at most bullrings has declined.

Only 1.9% of the Spanish population attended a bullfight during the 2021-22 season, down from 8% in 2018-19, according to a survey of leisure habits carried out by the ministry. As for the number of bullfights that take place in the country, there were 3,651 in 2007, but the figure had fallen to 1,546 by 2022.

‘We did not believe it is appropriate to maintain an award that rewards a form of animal abuse’, said the left-wing Culture Minister, Ernest Urtasun.

‘I think [the public] understand even less that these forms of animal torture are rewarded with medals that come with monetary prizes using public money,’ he added, during an interview with La Sexta TV.

The news topped the headlines on Spain’s state-run TV channel, RTVE - as it often does when there’s any attempt to tamper with ‘the cultural heritage of all Spaniards’. What I mean by this is that whilst the culture minister seems to have made this one-off decision about scrapping the prize, the Culture Ministry’s website still states very clearly that bullfighting in Spain has been declared ‘worthy of protection’ and much more:

Bullfighting, understood as the set of knowledge and artistic, creative and productive activities, including the breeding and selection of the fighting bull, which come together in the modern bullfight and the art of fighting, has been declared Spanish cultural heritage, worthy of protection throughout the national territory (Law 18/2013 of November 12).

In accordance with the obligation of public powers to promote and protect access to culture (art. 44 CE) and to guarantee the conservation and promote the enrichment of the historical, cultural and artistic heritage of the people of Spain (art. 46 CE) , Law 18/2013 establishes the competence of the General Administration of the State to guarantee the conservation and promotion of Bullfighting as the cultural heritage of all Spaniards, as well as to protect the right of everyone to know, access and freely exercise it in their different manifestations and, specifically, to develop measures for identification, documentation, investigation, valuation and transmission of this heritage in its different aspects (art. 5 of Law 18/2013).

The decision to scrap the prize was welcomed by animal rights groups, but it angered the right-wing and far-right parties, as well as other supporters of bullfighting, who also argue that it is an integral part of Spain’s identity and ‘tradition’ - which is the recurring argument they use to try and defend it. Tradition.

The spokesman of the right-wing People’s Party (PP) - that swiftly promised to reinstate the prize if it returns to power - accused the government of being ‘obsessed with sticking its finger in the eye of those who do not think’ as it does, while the party’s spokesman in parliament said bullfighting was ‘part of our culture, of our traditions’.

The PP leader of the Aragón region, Jorge Azcón, said they would create their own bullfighting prize to replace the national one being scrapped. ‘Tradition should be something that unites us rather than divides us,’ he said. Other regional governments, including one run by the socialists in Castilla-La Mancha where bullfighting is popular, also said they would create their own bullfighting prize.

Tradition. It used to be a tradition to dunk witches headfirst in water or burn them at the stake, didn’t it? Stoning people to death. Forcing women to marry their rapists. Blasphemy punishments. I think these were all ‘traditions’, too - and, yes, some still exist in countries that are stuck in medieval times.

Whenever the bullfighting ‘debate’ hits the headlines in Spain, however, it fascinates me - it always has - and if you’ve read either of my books, you’ll probably know why.

I fully acknowledge that I used to go to some bullfights in Madrid when I lived there, and I don’t apologise for it. As I write in A Load of Bull:

Look, I’d never preach that the bullfight is right because I don’t think it is. I don’t think there’s any justification for it at all. Whatever they say, bullfighting is almost certainly wrong, but it is a fact of life. The Spanish hold bullfights and will do so until … well, until the cows some home.

Two things here: (1) ‘Until The Cows Come Home’ was the title of my very first screenplay, handwritten in pencil (I still have it) of a story that was to years later develop into ‘The Barcelona Connection’. (2) I guess in the same way that I write in the introduction of the new edition of ‘A Load of Bull’, that ‘today, I am conscious about some of the “laddish” text and passages objectifying women’ - I realise that saying bullfighting is a ‘fact of life’ isn’t a defence for it at all. But I also believe that it will never be banned in Spain, which is a key theme and sub-plot of The Barcelona Connection.

Spain’s Canary Islands banned bullfighting in 1991. Catalonia followed suit in 2010 but this ban was officially overturned by Spain’s Constitutional Court six years later - although no bullfights take place here.

What really fascinates me about bullfighting is the debate about bullfighting. What fascinates me is that it is allowed to continue. What fascinates me is how passionate people get about defending or condemning it, and how it divides specific strands of Spanish society and highlights the contrasts of old Spain v new Spain; right-wing v left-wing; pijos v non-pijos; and, yes, dare I say it … Madrid (& Andalusia) v Catalonia.

I researched the bullfight community extensively as part of my research for ‘The Barcelona Connection’ - but more than anything on how they travel from bullfight to bullfight. Years ago, I took a film producer and a double-Oscar and double-BAFTA winning director-screenwriter to a bullfight in Madrid and we sat in the front row. They will remain anonymous. I haven’t been to a bullfight for many years now and I have no desire to go again. But the debate about it will always fascinate me.

I’m an observer (and writer), not an activist. I believe my characters in ‘The Barcelona Connection’ do the talking for me, and especially Elena Carmona shouting that just because Goya, Dalí, Miró, Picasso and van Gogh all painted the bullfight, it doesn’t mean it should be allowed to continue. Simply put, you can’t defend something just because it’s a tradition.

In ‘A Load of Bull’ you’ll also read about the past ritual of a village in Spain throwing a goat from a church belfry. The mayor used to defend it by saying ‘A fiesta without throwing a goat is like Christmas without a Christmas tree.’ Traditions, eh?

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The Catalan elections are being held next Sunday 12 May - and which I think will be very interesting. I’m afraid I won’t be posting a ‘Letter from Spain’ that day, however, because I will be in the UK, visiting friends and family. I’ll be back on Sunday 19 May, when they will probably still be arguing about how to form a new government in Catalonia. Until then!

Books, Reviews, Research, News & Events

Forthcoming Events

On Friday 20 September, I will be doing an event at the Secret Kingdoms Bookshop at C/ Moratín 7 in Madrid. More details will follow in due course.

The Barcelona Connection - Research

In my weekly ‘Letter from Spain’ from #7 right up to #42, I also included notes about all the research I carried out for The Barcelona Connection. Many of the posts include photos and descriptions of locations that appear in the book, from Nîmes, Figueres, Cadaqués, La Bisbal d’Empordà and, of course, many areas of Barcelona. There are also posts about Salvador Dalí’s Hallucinogenic Toreador and ‘The Face’, the Dalí Museum in Figueres, the Picasso Museum and MNAC in Barcelona, even Girona Airport and nearby motorway service station - as well as the G20 Spouse Party, museum visits and ‘art attacks’. I hope the notes about the research are of interest … and I hope you might buy, read and take The Barcelona Connection with you to some of the locations that appear in the book! If you do, please send me a photo and I’ll post it here …

The Barcelona Connection - Book & Reviews

A murder. A kidnapping. A lost Salvador Dalí painting. Just 36 hours to resolve all three. Every crime scene is a work of art …

Benjamin Blake is no ordinary detective. Specialising in the criminal underworld of stolen and forged art, things don’t always go the right way for Benjamin. But when they don’t, he has a stubborn determination to put them right.

Within hours of being sent to Barcelona to authenticate a possible Salvador Dalí painting, Benjamin is left stranded without his cell phone at a service station alongside a bloody corpse in the early hours of the morning, after being savagely attacked with his hire car stolen, together with the painting.

Helped and hindered by the fiery Elena Carmona, pursued by a psychopathic hitman, Benjamin becomes the prime suspect in a politically motivated kidnap and murder. All this on the eve of Barcelona hosting a G20 summit and UN climate change conference, with the police in hot pursuit fearing a wider terrorist threat.

From Nîmes in the South of France, across the border to the sweltering humidity of Girona, Barcelona, Figueres and Cadaqués, The Barcelona Connection is a fast-paced, gripping page-turner sprinkled with black comedy, blending the real with the surreal, art crime and mistaken identity … and where the clues at the crime scene might just be the mirror image of a long-lost work of art …

If you can’t locate a copy of The Barcelona Connection in your local store, it can be ordered from any bookshop simply by giving the ISBN number: 978-1-7393326-1-7.

It is also available in print or as an eBook via Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or you can also click here to choose where else to order your copy from.

Click here for the latest reviews on Amazon and on Goodreads.

A review by Michael Eaude of The Barcelona Connection was published in the October 2023 edition of Catalonia Today.

‘Short, fast-moving scenes and the deft joining of two completely different plots … the novel is not just breathlessly rapid and action-packed, but overflows with humour and satire.’

‘The excellent plotting, the local knowledge, the surreal humour, the political satire and the speed of events … it’s an admirable and very readable crime novel.’

A review by Dominic Begg of The Barcelona Connection was published in La Revista, a publication of the British-Spanish Society.

‘The Barcelona Connection is a fast-moving page-turner with a helter-skelter plot.’

‘The background to this thriller is realistic and familiar to those who know Barcelona well. It’s a world of cynical, ambitious politicians; civil servants promoted via enchufe; friction between Spanish and Catalan investigators; disruptive anti-capitalist activists; bumbling US dignitaries and security guards; the continuing influence of old supporters of Franco; the soulless 21st century, exemplified by apartment hotels seemingly without human staff-members …’

Here’s a link to a review of the book by Eve Schnitzer published by the Spain in English online newspaper.

‘Tim Parfitt very cleverly weaves together two parallel though quite different stories, set against the background of a contemporary Barcelona that is even busier than usual with major international meetings.’

‘Two plot lines interweave, with some highly ironic as well as suspenseful results … this book has a lot to offer the reader, from pure entertainment to solid information and, possibly, a fuller understanding of the complexities of Spain and Catalonia in particular.’

Here’s the link to an article I was asked to write for The Art Newspaper about my research on Salvador Dalí.

A Load of Bull - An Englishman’s Adventures in Madrid - Book & Reviews

Eighteen years since it was originally published, ‘A Load of Bull - An Englishman’s Adventures in Madrid’ has just been re-issued, with a new introduction, new cover and five extra chapters that were cut from the original book.

It is available in print and as an eBook, and this time worldwide, in both formats. Bookshop distribution is underway but in the meantime you can order the new paperback or digital edition via Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or the digital version on Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, or on many other platforms by clicking here.

If you’ve never read the book, I hope you will now acquire a copy and laugh out loud. If you did read and enjoy the original edition, I think you’ll love this new edition with additional chapters! More details about the book and links to many reviews are below.

A LOAD OF BULL - An Englishman’s Adventures in Madrid

The hilarious true story of an Englishman sent to Madrid to help launch Spanish Vogue …

In the late eighties Tim Parfitt blagged his way into a job at Condé Nast in London and from there into a six week stint in Madrid to help launch Spanish Vogue. Six weeks turned into nine years, and helping out turned into running the company. Along the way, Tim Parfitt discovered the real 'real' Spain. He never saw a Costa and he certainly never bought an olive grove. Instead, he discovered a booming city in hedonistic reaction to years of fascism, where sleep was something you only did at work and where five hour lunches invariably involved a course of bull's testicles.

Tim Parfitt's rise from unwanted guest to paparazzi-pursued mover in Spain's glamorous social scene is a hilarious comedy of errors. Frothing with a language designed to make foreigners dribble, hospitalised by tapa-induced flatulence and constantly frustrated by the unapproachable beauty of the women parading through the Vogue offices, he nevertheless falls in love with a city, a country and its people - despite the fact he hasn't a clue what they're on about.

You can click here for all the reviews of A Load of Bull on Amazon, as well as on Goodreads.

Links to newspaper and magazine reviews:

‘A hugely entertaining memoir ... frequently laugh-out-loud funny.’ (The Daily Express)

‘Parfitt is no ordinary Englishman … his light touch and neat line in self-deprecating humour perfectly suits this entertaining urban spin on the old tale of Brits having fun under the Spanish sun.’ (The Sunday Times)

‘A love letter to Madrid ... brilliantly captures a truly eccentric and hedonistic place.’ (The Daily Mirror)

‘Often hilarious ... a side-splittingly funny travel memoir.’ (BBC Online)

‘Vivid yet affectionate … fascinating, escapist stuff.’ (OK! Magazine)

‘Magnificent ... brilliant and moving, hilarious and truthful.’ (La Vanguardia)

‘Don't miss it … Madrid through the eyes of an Englishman.’ (Vogue España)

Spanish edition

A Load of Bull was also published in Spanish under the title, Mucho Toro - las tribulaciones de un inglés en la movida. Click here or on image below for the current eBook version.

Contact Details

You can email me at: tim.parfitt@hotmail.co.uk