San Isidro, a great fair

The Las Ventas businessman is a manager of dreams who suffers from insomnia to make sure everything fits and runs.

There has been a literature for years on the sensations bullfighters, ranchers and even fans experienced when the San Isidro Fair posters came out. However, there is no literature on the feelings of a businessman, in this case a waiter and Simn Casas, my friend and partner. Bullfighters risk a lot, including life and prestige, the farmer gambles to continue his market, the fan jeopardizes his love and passion. They all think about the fair, counting back in the calendar when the posters are announced. But even the businessman is counting the days. Of course we don’t risk our lives or anything like that. However, there is very hard work at stake which in the end results in fitting the pieces together in a way that makes all the dreams of bullfighters, ranchers and fans come true. And that is our great concern, which of course also robs us of our sleep. Because somehow the businessman is responsible for making the dreams, feelings and passions of all the above actors come true. Choose shortlists, days, bulls to make everything fit, so that it flows optimally and the dreams of others are fulfilled. Somehow just these dreams belong to the dream and even to the insomnia of the businessman.

Every businessman who claims to be one, and even more so in Las Ventas and even more so in San Isidro, loses some of his calm and lives through the months with his days shrouded in doubt about his own capabilities. If it could have been done better. If one day you should have worked a few more hours. A way to push yourself to the max in line with Las Ventas demands. And this time, the insomnia started a long time ago, around February 1st, when the posters were announced at the San Isidro Gala. As entrepreneurs, we have to accept any kind of criticism. There will always be talk of absenteeism from trade fairs where everyone is never there or where others think that some are there more often than they deserve. It’s part of the landscape forever. We have been criticized for issuing season tickets and tickets much earlier than has traditionally been the case. And of course because of the new pricing policy. They are business bets made with one goal in mind: to improve. Better to make those dreams and insomnia of bullfighters, ranchers and fans come true that they make sense. Upgrade to close the best fair with the best posters for the Christmas season. Work more, work earlier, bring bullfighting into the same markets as the great leisure. If someone asks me if the first goal of an entrepreneur is economic viability, I answer yes. The question is that this profitability must be addressed to everyone. Not just for the company. If the management is good from an economic point of view, the bullfighter, whose dream intensifies because his cache improves, improves. It improves the farmer and consequently the satisfaction of the public. Therefore, the businessman is a manager of chance, of dreams, of passions, of happiness that we try to order with time, with structure, with work and anticipation.

We can’t do a bull attack, but we can end his participation soon so he can know he’s going in the ring at Las Ventas. We cannot fight for the bullfighters, but we can encourage them to plan their hearts and run ahead of their parade. And to the public to help you plan your life, your vacation, your budget and your free time. But there is more. Something that no other businessman than the one from Madrid knows. All bullfighters want to fulfill their dream of a fair parade. This is a show where The performers call on you to risk your life. A gesture of loyalty and courage that gives me personally the most difficult and indescribable feeling. I can never ignore these human desires, which do not exist in any profession, where this request is as true as it is painful. Especially when you can’t fulfill the wish of a man who wants to risk his life.

The one that starts now is a big fair. Not so much because there are very good posters, an obvious and objective question if I may say so, but because it is fair made with patience, time, precision and love. That’s our business work, apart from throwing dice in the air and deploying three bullfighters.

I don’t think there is a single bullfighting businessman who doesn’t love bullfighting. In my case it is a state long before I entered this world. That’s why I think this restlessness, which comes from responsibility and the wish that what has been achieved with work and diligence, is justified. Also, without these fears or apprehensions or concerns that have been on our minds since February, I would be irresponsible. Since I’ve been an entrepreneur, I haven’t watched a bullfight to enjoy it with the tranquility I lived when I was just another fan. Because of this, I think we all somehow participate in the parade in Las Ventas. We all play a lot. I want the fair to be successful. May the fan be happy because the bulls attacked and the bullfighters won. A question that will multiply dreams of other squares and other places and increase hopes for bullfighting. As for pure economics, by the end of San Isidro it will have been the public that judged our mistakes, which we undoubtedly made, and the successes, which I hope will be many. Good luck to you all.

Rafael Garcia GarridoHe is the President of Plaza 1 and a businessman from Las Ventas