Las Ventas History

From 1913 to 1920, bullfighting gained such a momentum that Madrid's former main bullring at the Carretera de Aragón was not big enough. It was José Gómez Ortega "Joselito" who complained about the necessity of a new "monumental" bullring, to open this part of Spain's heritage and culture to the whole city of Madrid. Architect José Espeliú (friend of Joselito) began to work on the project.

Plaza de los Toros, Madrid by Juan Laurent, c. 1874, Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC
A family called Jardón donated the land to the Madrid Provincial Council, provided that they could run the arena for fifty years. The deputation accepted the proposal on November 12, 1920. On March 19, 1922, in the exact center of the prospective arena, the first stone was placed. The construction of the bullring would cost 12 million pesetas (4.5 million over budget), and it would replace the old bullring, dating from 1874.

"Las Ventas" was finished in 1929 and two years later, June 17, 1931, a charity bullfight was held with a full-capacity crowd to inaugurate it. Bullfighting stopped during the Spanish Civil War and did not resume until May 1939.

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