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It is the rebellious vocation of a Catalonia that demands freedom without respecting that of those who go against the current. The response to an internal call, the nonconformist youth, the guidance of a feeling, the dreamed glory lead Alba Caro (Barcelona, 2005) to combine her studies of Livestock and Assistance in Animal Health with her training with the bullfighting school of Catalonia.

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I have a very special relationship with animals, I love them all. As a child I rode a horse so I was awakened by the fondness for all animals, "says with her 18 years the outstanding student who a few days ago bullied surrounded by starred flags on the day of the Diada.

The festival commemorates the date of a defeat – the capitulation of Barcelona to the Bourbon troops in 1714 – and over time has become a day of defense of the rights and freedoms of Catalonia to reaffirm its own personality. And although it hurts some, in that identity there is also bullfighting. This is how Alba lived it in Cardona: "ERC governs there, it shows that bullfighting belongs to the people, that politics and bullfighting have absolutely nothing to do with it. People turned to me, there is a lot of fans even if it is not said. " Without banderillas or death, the bullfighters were able to bullfight in Catalonia exercising their freedom through the culture that has always united Spain.

However, due to the sectarianism of the separatist bloc together with the complicity of the PSC, neither Alba nor the rest of the students of the Bullfighting School of Catalonia can freely exercise their career as bullfighters in their land. Last spring they went to debut in Vinaroz (Castellón) as an escape valve to be able to bullfight lights.

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The Constitutional Court struck down the law that banned bullfighting in Barcelona but bullfighting has not returned to the city. The Monumental hosts other shows included in the cultural program of the Balañá family that seems to have forgotten that thanks to bullfighting began its empire. Alba dreams of bullfighting lights in Barcelona: "It is very difficult but nothing is impossible. If whoever has the power took the step... Taking the alternative would already be a dream and if it were in the Monumental it would already be..."

José Tomás has been in charge through his foundation of financing the Catalan school for years. He continues to collaborate with her but the feats of the hero of Galapagar in the Monumental are far away in time for this generation of bullfighters. Alba does not remember seeing him bullfight, she has not even seen bulls in the Plaza de Barcelona. His hobby begins in the nebula of childhood, with his grandmother. "In summer we went to Antequera and I remember that he took me to the corrals to see the bulls but in the afternoon we did not go to the square. Other days she watched bulls on television and I was hooked. The step to enroll in school was not easy. My parents didn't want to but after about a year and a half insisting, they finally left me," says Alba proudly, who is already in her third year feeding her bullfighting vocation.

He has just started his studies of FP, Superior Technician of Livestock and Assistance in Animal Health. He has not yet had the opportunity to tell his colleagues that he dedicates his time, attention and enthusiasm to bullfighting. "The issue has not come up but I have no problem saying it either. I am not worried about animalism and less studying the part of livestock in which we all know that death is part of life. It would be contradictory if studying something linked to the meat industry someone did not understand my passion for bullfighting, "he says with overwhelming coherence.

She has had no problem either for being a bullfighter or for being a woman. "I live in Santa Coloma de Cervelló. Many neighbors already know me and see naturally that I carry my cape and my crutch. Although it is said, it is not true that there is no fondness for bullfighting in Catalonia. I notice more curiosity about the subject than rejection, it is something that surprises me a lot, "explains the admirer of Curro Romero and Morante de la Puebla, captivated by the most artistic bullfighting.

"I have not had favorable treatment for being a woman or fewer opportunities than my peers. Our teacher, Enrique Guillén, seeks exchanges with other schools that allow us to bullfight in Albacete, Jaén, Aragon or France." There, on the other side of the border, there is no complex with the festival of the bulls or with the freedom of each one to choose their cultural tastes. Many Catalan fans seek their exile in France to enjoy the bull in Ceret, Nimes or Arles, among other places.

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