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We Were “Witches” Fighting Bulls

THE bulls were enormous. Each must have weighed half a ton. My two sisters and I usually fought against young bulls, but these were full-grown beasts, with fearsome horns. We could have refused to fight them, of course, but how would the crowd react to that? They had paid their entrance fee to see Las Meigas (The Witches) fight bulls, and we did not want to let them down. We marched hesitantly into the bullring.

You may be wondering what three sisters were doing fighting bulls. Well, it certainly wasn’t to show that women are just as good as men at this profession. It was sheer economic necessity that propelled us into this macho world.

As teenagers, we left our hometown in northwest Spain and headed for Madrid, where we hoped to find work. But when nothing turned up, we took the advice of a friend who had been a torero and decided to “try our luck with the bulls.” We called ourselves Las Meigas (The Witches) because that was a name that easily identified our place of origin in Spain and also because we hoped to bewitch the bulls. After just two years of tough apprenticeship, we became bullfighters in earnest.

Dangers and Death

We usually fought the younger two- or three-year-old bulls, which are not quite as fierce and powerful. But that does not mean that the danger is eliminated, for they tend to be quicker and more agile. We were fortunate, however, and apart from a broken ankle, some nasty scrapes, and a leg wound, we escaped serious injury. Even on the occasion when we faced those huge adult bulls, we left the ring unscathed.

During the bullfighting season, we would often fight four bulls in the morning and four more in the afternoon. Eventually, we could kill a bull almost as easily as we could make our bed. In fact, during a period of eight years, we fought and killed 1,500 bulls in bullrings throughout Spain, as well as in Portugal and France. Our goal was to get a contract for South America, where we could earn really big money, enough to buy a ranch and raise fighting bulls.

Although it was the need to make ends meet that got us started, before long the desire for adventure, fame, and fortune became the main motivation. Despite the danger, we enjoyed it! True, every now and then, we would hear news of the death of a bullfighter, and this affected us for a few days, grimly reminding us of the risks involved. But we soon got over this temporary anxiety. As we entered the bullring, instead of wishing one another good luck, we would say: “On with the battle!”

A Different Kind of Fight

Then, in 1984, something happened that made my sisters, Milagros and Elda, and me reassess our goals and, indeed, our livelihood. All three of us started to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. We were thrilled with what we learned about God’s Kingdom and about the future Paradise that God has promised. But then came a difficult decision. Did our work harmonize with what we were learning?

Finally, two things convinced us that we could not continue our career as bullfighters. First of all, we observed the atmosphere at the bullring. The fanaticism of the crowd smacked of that at a Roman circus. Was it an appropriate environment for Christian women?

The second problem had to do with divine protection. Almost all bullfighters, being Catholics, seek protection from their favorite Madonna or “saint.” I have even seen some set up a portable shrine in their hotel room to pray, trusting that this will save them from injury in the bullring. However, we realized that we couldn’t ask Jehovah to protect us when we were deliberately being cruel to animals and putting our lives in danger in order to earn money and excite the crowd. We decided to quit bullfighting.

No sooner had we made this decision than the long-awaited South American contract materialized. A chance to earn a fortune was within our grasp. But we were adamant in our choice, and on October 3, 1985, we made our last appearance as “The Witches.” About a year later, we were baptized, and we now exert ourselves ‘fighting the fine fight of the faith.’​—1 Timothy 6:12.

We still work together but in a restaurant rather than a bullring. We are so happy to have found something better than fame and fortune​—a good relationship with the almighty God and a sure hope for the future. We look forward to the time when we will be able to caress wild bulls in God’s new world, where neither man nor animal will “do any harm or cause any ruin . . . because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.” (Isaiah 11:9)​—As told by Pilar Vila Cao.