Las Ventas square offers a different plan in July: Dinner and Bulls in the same offer. The date? Every Thursday from this June 27 to July 25 when the final of a contest that brings together twelve novice bullfighters of all kinds and conditions will be held, but with a common denominator, their intention to make themselves known in the most decisive bullring in the bullfighting world.
Up to eight of them will make their presentation in the monumental Madrid arena in this series, some of them with illustrious surnames such as Manuel Caballero, son of the bullfighter of the same name, who fights in the first novice bullfight of the contest, Santiago Esplá, son of Juan Antonio and nephew of Luis Francisco, who will do the same fifteen days later, or Manolo Vázquez, a native of the Vázquez family from the Sevillian neighborhood of San Bernardo, announced on July 18 in the last of the qualifying events.
The man from Jaén, Pedro Gallego, the man from Alcarria, Álvaro Sánchez, the man from Madrid, Álvaro de Chinchón, the man from Salamanca, Valentín Hoyos and the Mexican Rubén Núñez will be the other aspirants who will make their first walk in the capital’s bullring with the moon as a witness. Because the schedule is an essential element in this novice contest.
In addition, young people are announced who, without having made a strong impact, have already had relevant afternoons in this bullring, as is the case with the Castilian Mario Navas or the Mexican Bruno Aloi, who left a very good taste in the mouth in the first events of the season. Aloi, also by the way son of the body (his part and his brother are rejoneadores) opens fire in the first event, while Navas acts in the novice bullfight prior to the final.
This last event, destined for the three best novice bullfighters and which will take place on Thursday, July 25, will have an added incentive: the “duel” between breeders El Juli and Talavante, who will each fight three bulls in what is their presentation in Las Ventas, also in this facet in which they are beginning to obtain very exciting results.
But we cannot lose sight of the slogan of the series: Dine at Las Ventas. Because in it, gastronomy marries bullfighting. An interesting partnership set up between the regional government and the company Plaza 1, tenant of the building.
A wide gastronomic offer that includes a varied and succulent menu such as prepared dishes, Argentinean empanadas, meat and dairy products, preserves or potatoes, all washed down with vermouths and wines with the denomination of origin Wines of Madrid. Stop by the gallery of the high stands before each novice bullfight and enjoy the best delicacies of the region before the bugle sounds. You won’t regret it!
Emiliano Osornio’s return to Madrid provided the standout moments of the Autumn Fair’s opening day. With the fifth novillo, he produced passages full of depth and composure, in a contest marked by the limited play of the livestock.
The 2025 Madrid Autumn Fair is the perfect showcase to take the pulse of bullfighting — especially of what lies ahead in the coming years. If the passion and imagination that the company has shown in crafting these original line-ups is matched in the ring, the fair could prove historic. Personally, I wouldn’t miss it.
They are the appetiser of an attractive Autumn Fair, but also the reaffirmation of the young novilleros announced. A glimpse of the future of this
