The Plaça de Bous de la Macarena (bullfight arena) in Felanitx has been a continuous venture ever since 1914. One day a year, at Sant Agustí (August 28th), the town’s patron saint’s day, a traditional novillada would be performed, mostly involving five or six young bulls. Last year was the first year on record in peacetime when no such spectacle could be held for reasons of public health and safety. The arena is in a pretty bad state of repair, due to its old age, and in particular the emergency exits seem to be in an unacceptable condition. The current licensee, a company from Catalunya, did not consider it viable to spend vast amounts of money for a one-day-a-year event, and had asked the local town hall to chip in some of the funds for the repair work needed. The Felanitx ajuntament duly declined. No works were carried out last year and the license for the activity has since been withheld by the Consell de Mallorca.

The deal between a previous licensee and the municipal owners appears to have stated that the use of the bullring would revert back to the town if, at any one time, a bullfight or similar activity was not be held at the Macarena during a full calendar year. This clearly was the case in 2009, and now the Felanitx town hall wants to reclaim the ownership of the bullring. The licensee, however, appears to want to sell the rights to the property. Felanitx is now said to be considering starting legal proceedings and a possible attempt at expropriation has not been ruled out.

At the same time, a speaker for the ajuntament has declared that it is not the intention to ever hold taurine activities again at the municipal arena. This may have been the end of an era, already. Perhaps it was inevitable, after all.

The photo (top) was chosen from my archive. It was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: August 29th, 2008. The time was 09:16:33. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet. Thanks are due to toros.com and to the photographer.

Moltes gràcies.