Tribute Festival to Curro Romero: The Legend Returns to La Maestranza

Throughout history, there have been many bullfighters who were technically superior—more complete, braver, with better skills—but few have sparked the same level of passion in arenas, on posters, and at fairs as Curro Romero. As we approach the 25th anniversary of his retirement (in 2025) and with over 90 years behind him, the Real Maestranza of Seville, his Seville, will pay tribute to him with a grand festival on 12th October.

It all began on that afternoon with the calf “Radiador” from Benítez Cubero, in the very arena where, in April 1999, he crafted his last great masterpiece, before a bull from Juan Pedro, alongside fellow matadors Espartaco and Francisco Rivera Ordóñez. Curro Romero will once again feel the admiration of fans and witness how, despite the passage of time, his legacy remains firmly etched in the collective memory of bullfighting aficionados.

The rosemary sprigs will return to the lapels in El Baratillo. It will be something of a revival for the “currismo” faithful, a religion centred in Seville that, despite the matador’s retirement, continues to remember him with the same devotion and reverence as when he donned his suit of lights. Conversations will spring up, impromptu street gatherings will relive those moments—an artistic move here, a subtle pass there—and above all, that unique and natural way Curro had of guiding the bull’s charge while slowing its momentum, almost bringing it to a halt.

Who doesn’t have a memory of Curro Romero ingrained in their mind? Those small capes, the black suits, the minimally embroidered jackets… And what about his afternoons in the ring? Can you name many bullfighters who are remembered not for their full performances or a particular afternoon, but for a single pass, an adornment, even a defiant gesture? Curro certainly is. Even in a world so focused on the present, new generations of fans who never saw him fight search through the limited recordings still available to witness something of this bullfighting legend.

The line-up, presented by the Pagés company for the upcoming day of El Pilar, exudes good taste, sensitivity, and Sevillian spirit. And ART. In capital letters. José Antonio Morante de la Puebla, Diego Urdiales, Daniel Luque, Oliva Soto, Pablo Aguado, and the young matador Javier Zulueta are all scheduled to appear—a stellar cast of bullfighters, many of whom bear a style reminiscent of the master himself.

Moreover, the festival has a charitable cause, supporting the social initiatives of the Hermandad de los Gitanos and Nuevo Futuro. Another reason to attend, to close the season at La Maestranza, and to remember the maestro in the very arena where he was carried out through the Puerta del Príncipe five times, with the Guadalquivir River and the Triana Bridge as witnesses to the overwhelming displays of totemic adoration. The passion that Curro sparked (and still does) endures.