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From his refuge extremadura, Monteviejo, is Victorino Martin is following with concern the latest news about the Covid-19, the virus that has struck the entire skin of a bull. Livestock of bravo, a veterinarian and president of the Foundation of the Toro de Lidia, reflects on the consequences that this pandemic will have in a planet of bullfighting with a structure already cracked. Only with the cancellations of the fairs of Failures (seven bullfights and two novilladas), Magdalena (six runs) and April (fourteen runs) will be a minimum of 174 animals in the pasture. And according to this authoritative voice of the field, bravo, to breed a bull costs about five thousand euros, to which must be added now a thousand more. “It is a drama: all expenses and no income –he emphasized. Going to be a before and after , not only in the economy of the bull, but at a general level. But our business is very seasonal and we’re caught in the start of the season. Since October we have not been invoiced and, just when we were going to generate money, it has paralyzed the country.”

—do you recall any other time that is so critical?

—Since the civil war has not known anything so severe. No one here knows what will happen. We have to be responsible and comply with the health recommendations, but the consequences will be much more dramatic for the economy and for all.

Although the tasks in the field do not understand rest, Victorino has also been forced to reorganize the work. The hashtag #yomequedoencasa has become #yomequedoenlafinca . “To all the people who live here have been told not to go out, except one to make the purchase, and moving from home to the farm to come to work will be fifteen days at his home. The sooner you pass, before we will begin to work”, he says. On their farms there will be these weeks trekking or excursions. “Here comes nobody”, he says.

—Can it affect the coronavirus to the bull?

—it Is very difficult. In addition, living in freedom, no longer as a distance of two meters, but in many acres of land.

—do you See feasible to defer the fairs?

—it Is a chimera to predict. Should serve as a basis for a reorganization of the sector, with some consensus agreements, and I believe that the Foundation can be that element of cohesion.

—Have requested a meeting with the minister of Culture. Do you ever reply?

—I have no doubt that we will hear. The world del toro is a strategic sector, a cultural show in which concentrate thousands of people. We don’t want to be more than anyone, but also not less.

—Who are the most affected: businessmen, farmers, or bullfighters?

—All, especially entrepreneurs and farmers. The bullfighters are not billed, but have costs beyond the day-to-day, the dresses and stuff. The businessmen have paid a fee and have invested in advertising that isn’t worth anything. In the case of farmers, because not only is that no income, is that they are all costs, both by the cattle as by the workers. My home depend on some twenty families.

—how Much it costs to raise a bull?

—The costs are about five thousand euros per bull. With this pandemic, we must add a plus of almost a thousand euros more. Each bull is the father or mother of a family that holds up to ten members, the only one that generates revenue. Only lydia ten percent of the bovine population, mostly males, but also females in popular festivities.

—What will happen with the cinqueños?

—In my case I have a hundred bulls for this year, over fifteen runs, and of those handling the 20 percent in cinqueños. The luck is that until December will not meet the six years. But there is another downside: the cinqueños stick a lot and will increase the fights, so if you suffer from any butt already will not work.

—The antitaurinos have welcomed the fact that many bulls are not dealt by the coronavirus.

—Are portrayed as what they are: insane, sick people. What can you expect from someone who is glad of a virus that kills people only to not have cumshots?