A war over bullfighting traditions

Pabon, a member of a troupe of comic bullfighters, boxing with a bull during a show in Teruel, Spain. Opponents of Spain’s comic shows at bullfights by people with dwarfism say they are banned by a new law. But performers say the show must go on. — ©2023 The New York Times Company

AFTER a nearly seven-hour journey, the bus carrying “The Popeye Bullfighter and his Dwarf Sailors” slowed to a stop around the brick bullfighting ring in Teruel, Spain. A brass band, clowns, children, wives, babies, the company’s leader and seven performers with achondroplasia, a bone growth disorder that causes the more common type of dwarfism, spilled out into the sun.

“Teruel,” Jimmy Muñoz, a 57-year-old comic bullfighter with the condition, said as he stepped off the bus. “A very difficult place.”