Granada: El Fandi, 25 years as a bastion

Corpus Fair in Granada 2025

El Fandi is once again in the spotlight and capturing everyone’s attention in Granada. However, this season is no ordinary one, as it marks the 25th anniversary of his promotion to matador. And he’s celebrating in style with his fellow townspeople—a heroic feat included. Find out more!

The 2025 Corpus Bullfighting Festival is a tribute to David Fandila El Fandi. In fact, this has been the case for the past quarter-century—exactly the length of time since this bullfighter was promoted to full status. For the Granada native has been a pillar and mainstay of this season’s bullfighting series throughout his career.

At the Monumental in Frascuelo, he received his doctorate from maestro Manzanares, with El Juli as a witness, and despite a dislocated elbow and a fractured ulna, he managed not only to make his entrance but also to be carried out of the arena on the shoulders of the crowd. That day, surely, marked the beginning of this bullfighter’s love affair with his fellow countrymen, who have seen him perform feats of every kind and compete for the applause in his home arena against the entire elite of the active bullfighting world.

In Granada, for example, he has fought several one-on-one matches, such as one with Enrique Ponce against bulls from Partido de Resina in 2004, another with Castella in 2008, and one alongside El Juli in 2021. He has also fought several solo bullfights, such as in 2005 and 2013, and as a result of his dedication, he was injured in both, but he returned with determination and grace to finish the afternoon and left the arena carried on the shoulders of the crowd.

He also triumphed in 2017, perhaps on his most bitter afternoon in this bullring, when, in the alleyway, he received the news of his friend Iván Fandiño’s death. That day, despite the two ears he had earned, David left the bullring on foot, alongside Enrique Ponce and Roca Rey, his face contorted with grief and tears in his eyes.

This year, as one would expect, El Fandi is celebrating his silver jubilee as a matador in his home region. And he is doing so with two exceptionally demanding afternoons. On the first, Thursday 19 June, he shares the bill with Manzanares and Talavante against bulls from Álvaro Núñez, and on the second, Saturday 21, he takes on the challenge of fighting a bullfight featuring Victorino Martín’s bulls, alongside Sebastián Castella and Miguel Ángel Perera. Two line-ups of the highest calibre, featuring the top figures. Defending his home turf. Just as it always has been. Just as it will be for as long as he remains active.

But the festival also boasts another stellar line-up on Friday 20th, featuring Morante de la Puebla, Roca Rey and Pablo Aguado facing bulls from Matilla, and a top-class rejoneo line-up on the final day of the festival (Sunday 22nd), in which Andy Cartagena, Diego Ventura and local favourite Sebastián Fernández will face off against bulls from Ángel Sánchez.

It is, therefore, a well-rounded programme, packed into four days, which, beyond the celebrations for El Fandi, is well worth a trip with a stopover in one of Spain’s most beautiful cities. You bet it is…