Bilbao’s Vista Alegre Bullring: From the Fire to the Vanguard

The current Vista Alegre Bullring in Bilbao had a predecessor that many new aficionados may not be aware of. It was an arena of striking beauty, inaugurated on 13 August 1882. The building, designed by the Basque architect Sabino Goikoetxea Etxebarria, stood at the foot of Mount Uriza and could hold almost 12,500 spectators.

Manuel Fuentes “Bocanegra”, José Lara “Chicorro” and Fernando Gómez “Gallito Chico” were the matadors who had the honour of performing the inaugural paseo, fighting bulls from the Pérez de la Concha ranch. The arena, built with three tiers arranged in a twenty-four-sided polygon, featured three semicircular windows on each exterior face and entrance doors on the ground floor. It answered the need for a modern venue in a city transformed by the industrial boom and the rise of the steelworks in the second half of the 19th century.

The bullring was built thanks to a popular initiative launched in August 1881, and after securing the necessary funding through subscriptions, construction began under contractor Ángel Iturralde. For those who enjoy figures, it is worth noting that the land in south-west Bilbao cost 37,500 pesetas, and the total cost of the works amounted to 454,259.56 pesetas.

During the eight decades it stood, more than 1,800 events were held there, featuring the greatest names in bullfighting—across every era. Because the very best always came to Bilbao, both from the matador ranks and from the breeding estates. But in the early hours of 4 September 1961, a fire of unknown origin brought everything to an end.

That day, the local novillero Rafael Chacarte and the Córdoba-born José María Montilla and Manuel Benítez “El Cordobés” had fought young bulls from Antonio Pérez de San Fernando. Some theories suggest that poorly extinguished cigarette ends left in the stands may have caused the catastrophe.

It was the night watchman and the caretaker’s son who alerted the firefighters, but they found themselves faced with huge flames that, within minutes, reduced the upper stands to ashes. The night breeze blowing through El Botxo that evening contributed to the spread of the fire. The eight bulls and three oxen in the pens, along with the picador horses, were saved thanks to the caretaker, José Echevarría, and the workers, who moved them to safer areas at the rear of the building.

But Bilbao could not remain without a bullring or without bullfighting. And in barely nine months, on the ashes of the old arena, the new Vista Alegre rose. The mayor of Bilbao, Lorenzo Hurtado de Saracho, assumed responsibility for the project, and with the help of architect Luis María Gana y Hoyos, a modern, functional bullring with almost 15,000 seats was built. Its grand opening took place on 19 June 1962.

Antonio Ordóñez, the Venezuelan César Girón, and the local Rafael Chacarte—who had performed in the last event in the old bullring—faced bulls from Juan Pedro Domecq, Carlos Urquijo, Atanasio Fernández, Antonio Pérez de San Fernando, Marqués de Domecq and Ricardo Arellano.

The first bull to enter the grey Bilbao ring was Limonero, branded and coloured with the Juan Pedro Domecq insignia. He was fought by Antonio Ordóñez, who also had the honour of cutting the first ear of the new bullring after dispatching the fourth bull, from Antonio Pérez. César Girón cut an ear from the fifth, and Rafael Chacarte, from Barakaldo, earned both ears from the sixth, becoming the first triumphing matador of this new arena — an arena which, even today, with the renovations that place it at the forefront of modern bullrings, continues to boast the quality of the matadors and ranches that appear on its posters, and the passion of the aficionados who travel from every corner of the world to fill its stands.