By Guadalupe Meza

Phrases like «Ignacio de Allende, a vision of bullfighting sun and shadow,» «Plaza Orientes is like my home» (San Miguel bullfighting painter Juan Antonio Ruiz), and «Don Enrique Briones Martini (1932-2006), bullfighter in his early years and promoter of Sanmiguelense bullfighting,» express the aura of the bullfight and the bullfighter. Ignacio Allende was among those in San Miguel de Allende who were fascinated with bullfighting stories. The bullfighting festival had been a town ritual, and Allende, the hero of the War of Independence, was an avid fan. The bullfighting festival during his lifetime (1769-1811) was attractive and popular with all social classes.

This year, 2023, marks the 254th anniversary of San Miguel de Allende’s hero. The digital site hoysma.com, in its sections «Report,» «Heritage,» «Recognition,» and «Read more,» pays tribute to him. The website contains the pictorial bullfighting works of Juan Antonio Ruiz and the photography of Paula Ruiz, photographs from the bullfighting archive of the Briones Amaro family, and historical documents protected by the family. Brothers Franco and Antonio Barajas Becerra were writers, chroniclers, connoisseurs, and dilettantes of bullfighting in San Miguel in the middle of the last century. The publication of this bullfighting tribute to Allende is available to be viewed on the website and will remain there until January 31.