The troops are combative. On Sunday evening, the clowns will open the Corrida in the small Andalusian town of Baza. "Having fun in the arena with the bullfighting dwarves" is the name of the program of the group of short comedians whose first tour after the pandemic in Spain sparked controversy. The Minister for Social Rights had asked her last week to cancel her appearances: Such spectacles “vilify people because of their disabilities and expose them to public ridicule”. Short stature is “not a job”, it said from the ministry, which leads the left-wing alternative Podemos party, which sees a violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. It is considered problematic that city administrations support the events with taxpayers' money.
Hans-Christian Roessler
Political correspondent for the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb, based in Madrid.
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“We ask for your respect and freedom, we are torero artists” reads the posters that the clowns held up when they first appeared a few days ago. They see their livelihood in jeopardy and refer to a tradition that goes back a long way - even if they themselves are only the rear guard: Almost a century ago, the little "torero firefighters" began to march through the Spanish arenas. Often disguised as firefighters at first, they amused the audience before the first bulls died. To this day, in addition to their shows and acrobatic performances, they often fight with young bulls without killing them. These "toreritos" also occur in France, Portugal and South America.
In 2013, some of them even played a leading role in the multi-award-winning Spanish silent film “Snow White”. A group of small toreros rescues “Blancanieves”, as the character from Grimm's fairy tale is called in Spanish. In Madrid's Prado Museum, visitors encounter several court dwarfs. They were popular at the royal courts in Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were considered lucky charms, were entertainers and companions of the children. The painter Diego Velázquez immortalized two of them in his painting “Las Meninas” (The Maid of Honor). Other artists also drew them.
The group from Madrid is relatively new. It was only founded in 2015 and is the last larger troupe of its kind that still exist in Spain. The "Firemen", "Popeye Torero" and "Chino Torero" had given up some time ago. At their best, they each had several dozen members and attended every major fiesta in the country. A few years ago, the official professional register still recorded a good 170 "torero comedians". They are part of the childhood memories of many older Spaniards. With the new generation of children who shape American television series, they then had a harder time. At the same time the political atmosphere changed; fewer and fewer Spaniards go to bullfighting. After the turn of the millennium, cities like Zaragoza, Oviedo and Gijon forbade them from entering their arenas.
“Your work robs us of our dignity,” wrote Lucas Ayala in the online portal “Eldiario.es”. He is 20 years old and 130 centimeters tall and suffers from achondroplasia, as doctors call short stature. He supports the minister’s initiative and asks whether the mayors unleash young bulls at people with Down's syndrome at such fiestas to entertain the audience. "I'm sure you wouldn't," he replied. It is high time to end the humiliating "clown stigma" of short people. He therefore considers it right that the minister is working on a ban. The Spanish animal welfare organization Pacma is also calling for this step. Your appearances are not funny, but cruelty to animals, which should be put to an end.On the Spanish right, on the other hand, people are upset about the “cancel culture” of the left government, which does not take into account the traditions.
The now so heavily criticized troop had hoped for a restart after the pandemic. They had not performed since spring 2020. Now they just want to do their job and make people laugh, write the twelve members in a short statement: “We don't want subsidies and people who defend us for wrong reasons. We want to choose what we do for ourselves. We are comedians, but our work is serious. "