Valladolid: San Pedro Regalado Fair 2024
San Pedro Regalado is not just any festivity. Neither within the Castilian calendar, nor within the bullfighting one. This Franciscan friar, born in 1390, besides being the patron saint of Valladolid, is considered the patron saint of bullfighters, for having calmed the charge of a bull that had escaped from a celebration near the El Abrojo convent, in Laguna de Duero, where our protagonist was living a monastic life.
Therefore, in Valladolid, there are always bulls around May 13th, an ancestral tradition that honours the memory of the city’s patron saint and bullfighting. All the figures and the best bullfighters that this land has produced have paraded through the bullring of the Paseo de Zorrilla on this date, regardless of the fact that the city’s big fair takes place later in September, previously coinciding with the feast of San Mateo, and currently on dates close to the Virgin of San Lorenzo.
The company Tauroemoción, which has been managing the Valladolid bullring for some seasons, has given a new impetus to this celebration, even creating a mini-fair around it, and, in addition to a poster of maximum figures, in 2024 a 100% Valladolid novillada picada is also scheduled, and, as an appetizer, a contest of cuts, dodges and jumps, a show that also has faithful devotees in this land.
The main celebration is announced on Sunday, May 12th, where, with bulls from Garcigrande, the two leading figures of today will make the paseíllo, each one a reference in their own right, of the two styles that have always distinguished Tauromachy: José Antonio Morante de la Puebla and Andrés Roca Rey. And in between, as the third sword, not as a stone guest, Emilio de Justo, one of the most outstanding matadors of recent seasons. The category of the poster, as you can see, speaks for itself.
A day earlier, on Saturday, May 11th, two novilleros from the province will face each other in a very interesting mano a mano: Mario Navas and Daniel Medina. It has been a long time since Valladolid boasted two bullfighters with these qualities, who also possess a classic concept, very typical of the Castilian school, as both have trained in Salamanca, under the orders of maestro José Ignacio Sánchez.
Navas, the first of the two to debut with the mounted, stands out for his class from his first performances of lights. Winner of the Novilladas Circuit of Castilla y León last year, he has the experience and the trade to take the alternative this same season. At his side, moreover, is Manolo Sánchez, the last reference of Valladolid bullfighting. Medina, on the other hand, has a more artistic concept, with more pinch, which made him win, for example, the last edition of the Golden Shoe of Arnedo.
And as if there were not enough incentives, the novillada sports the iron of Toros de Brazuelas, a recently formed livestock, linked with the recognized seed of the Domecq breed, which also grazes in Valladolid fields and has fought with notable success in recent years, even in the Las Ventas bullring, where it took antiquity with an interesting novillada in 2022. There are plenty of reasons to spend the second weekend of May on the banks of the Pisuerga and enjoy one of the most charming Castilian capitals and the festivities around the most bullfighting character of the entire calendar of saints.
San Pedro Regalado, Valladolid 2024 Tickets
Mini bullfighting fair in Valladolid on 5, 11 and 12 May 2024. It commemorates the festival of the patron saint of bullfighters.
