Looking for Matadors in Madrid

There are literally thousands of street-parked motorcycles in the Spanish city of Madrid. Like many places in Europe, two wheeled moto-culture is outpacing four wheeled options. Barcelona – the place of origin for the legendary Bultaco brand – has the highest number of motorcycles, with over half a million registered there.  That’s partly due to its large population, and partly because it’s Spain’s second-largest metropolitan area, where motorcycles are more practical than cars. Madrid has the second-highest number of bikes registered: 301,324. Scooters, or Vespa-type vehicles, are ideal for Spain, especially its warmer regions, and particularly its urban areas. Ownership of scoooters has risen by 50% in the past decade [partly due to older/cheaper cars being regulated off the road – ed.]. Beyond the influence of a forgiving climate, economics and demographics, some wonder if there are deeper cultural undercurrents in Spain…could the relationship between rider and motorcycle reflect the classic Spanish dyad of the poised matador and the dangerous, wild bull?

Spain has a deep, consequential history in finance, literature, architecture, art, and yes motorcycles, that continues to reshape the world as we know it today. During the Age of Discovery in the 15^th and 16^th centuries, Spain extracted 180 tons of gold and 150 thousand tons of silver from its South American colonies; this unprecedented influx of capital reshaped Spanish and European finance.[1] Writer Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) who wrote the story Don Quixote: Man of La Mancha, is credited with penning the first novel, as we know the form today. Spanish painters El Greco (1541 -1614), Diego Velazquez (1599-1660) and Francisco Goya (1746-1828) opened the modernist door for Antoni Gaudi (1852-1925) and Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). On two wheels, Francisco Xavier ‘Paco’ Bulto (1912-1998) and his kick-ass Bultaco two–stroke bike designs (Pursang, Sherpa T, Astro and Matador) forever changed the expectations of motocross, trials and enduro sport.

The Spanish Matador principle

La corrida (or corrida de toros) refers to the Spanish-style bullfight that is still legal in Madrid, and since 2016 throughout the entire country of Spain. A few regions and cities like Barcelona have banned bullfighting on animal rights grounds, but most of those bans were overturned by the national government. The historic bullring in Madrid, Plaza de Toros deost Las Ventas (las Ventas) was built in the Guindalera quarter of the Salamanca district in 1931 with a seating capacity of 23,798: it’s the largest bll ring in Spain and third largest in the world, after bull rings in Mexico and Venezuela. It was designed by architect Jose Espeliu in the Neo-Mudejar style with ceramic tile incrustations that refer to a Moorish historical past [Spain (Al-Andalus) was part of the Moorish empire for 800 years! – ed]. ^[2]  The bullfighting season starts in March and ends in October and during the San Isidro Fiesta, fights are held every weekday and every Sunday or holiday. The fights unfold as a formal, layered and complicated ceremony that start at 6 or 7pm and last for two to three hours.

The image of the solitary, elegant matador, who strategically dances close to death with the brutally provoked, hulking, wild-eyed bull is a powerful, archetypal metaphor that, as Ernest Hemingway said, [3]  best represents ‘grace under fire’. Hemingway wrote; ‘Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter’s honor.’  The Spanish etymology of the word matador literally means ‘killer’.

In Madrid and Seville near the historic bullrings, there are classic bullfighting bars where man drink strong vermouth Marianito cocktails and eat tapas in the dim light, surrounded by huge, taxidermied bull heads with menacing horns. Framed, classic bullfighting posters and photos of historic bullfights decorate the walls and reveal when the contest went bad and matadors were gored in their stomachs by angry bulls and then flipped into the air like a child’s doll.  In the southern city of Seville, said to represent the ‘soul’ of Spain, young boys still play in the narrow ‘Kissing Lane’ alleys holding red rags, with dreams of becoming a legendary matador.[4]

Francisco ‘Paco’ Bultó Marquès (1912-1998) was a Barcelona, Spain (Catalan) businessman, motorcycle engineer and commercial matador of sorts, best known as the founder of Bultaco Motorcycles. He was the original director of the Montesa motorcycle company, founded in 1944 and lived by the credo, ‘The market follows the checkered flag’. After several years of steady growth and road-racing success, in 1957, Montesa moved to larger facilities, but the process was disorganized and thus production destabilized. A split in business philosophy soon followed, as Montesa management decided to move away from both racing, and manufacturing racing machines. Bulto became increasingly frustrated with the situation and left Montesa along with several talented designers and engineers in 1958; they formed Bultaco Motorcycles (a grammatical contraction of Bulto and Paco). The iconic Bultaco ‘Thumbs Up’ logo was developed after Bulto noticed during a race, British racer, David Whitworth giving the thumbs up signal to his pit crew.

Early Bultaco production facilities started simply in a farmhouse located outside Barcelona, but then relocated to other farmland owned by the local mayor, where a factory was built. In 1959 the new Bultaco brand started simply, first producing a few finished bikes a day, and slowly expanded production with a growing workforce drawn from Montesa workers who were looking for a better opportunity. The new Bultaco produced standard street and road racing models, but the brand’s true reputation rested on its off-road line up of small, agile, and strong two-strokers that literally overwhelmed the competition that still relied on heavy four-strokers.

The new models of the Bultaco brand were first presented in 1960 in Barcelona, at the Municipal Palace of Sports, and then in Madrid: that year production increased to 4,171 bikes. Bulto continued to believe in his ‘Checkered Flag’ approach, thinking that notoriety for his new brand depended not on commercial advertising but on racing success for its first models: the Tralla 101 and Tralla 101 Sport (Tralla is Spanish for whip and also whiplash). A racing program called the Escudaria Dos Tiempo (the Two Stroke Team) was created by Paco Gonzalez, Marcelo Cama, John Grace (England), and Georges Monneret (France) [part of the famous Velocette 24hrs @ 100mph team at Montlhéry in 1961 – ed]. In the coming years Bultaco two stroke motorcycles would dominate the competitive landscape.

In 1963 Bulto went all-in with his competition MX/Enduro plan, and production of Bultaco street bikes was cut back dramatically to the Metralla and Mercurio models.  That year Bultaco produced 11,836 bikes, with 885 bikes exported – predominantly to the American market. Production continued to increase and in 1966 20,042 bikes were produced, with 7,199 going to the US. At that time there were four Bultaco distributors in America; one in New York and three on the West Coast.

The Bultaco racing record in the early years

Motocross

1st in the I Motocross International of Barcelona in the categories of 125 National and 250 International (Joan Soler and Don Rickman);

1st in the Great XII Motocross Spain Grand Prix (Pomeroy);

1st in the VII Motocross Bay of The Naranjos (Pere Arpa);

1st in the Championship of Spain of Motocross (Toni Elías);

1st in the 37th Six International Days of Trial (Oriol Puig);

Gold and silver medals in Spindleruv Mlyn in 1963 (Joan Soler Bultó and Jose Sánchez).

Trials

1st in the Six Scottish Trial Days of 1965, 1967, 1968, 1973, 1976, 1977 and 1978;

1st in the British Championship of Trial (Sammy Miller) Four European Trial Championships in 1968, 1970, 1973, 1974;

Five World Championships (Sammy Miller, Martin Lampkin).

Road Racing

Seven of the top ten positions at the IX Spanish Grand Prix,

1st and 2nd in the XV International Speed ​​Prize of Madrid (John Grace and Marcelo Leg);

1st in the 24 hours of Montjuïc (Marcelo Cama);

Five world speed records in 175, 250 and 350 with the Bultaco 175, organized by the Streaker Cup: Sito Pons, Carles Garriga, Carles Cardús

Four World Cups with 50cc Ex-Piovaticci 50 (Àngel Nieto).

1965 Scottish Six Days Trial (Sammy Miller)

1968 Trial of Tarragona (Ignacio Bultó) [5]

Bultaco had a huge impact on the world of motorcycles. Road models like the Tralla and Metralla were catching people’s eye at the same time that the TSS road racer, Pursang motocross, Sherpa T trials bike and Matador enduro developed strong followings at both European and American events. Bultaco two-stroke engines were respected for their outstanding power-to-weight ratio, agility, and performance in off-road trials and motocross, making them a favorite among riders. Unlike most motorcycle manufacturers at the time, Bultaco two-stroke engines had a simpler design with fewer moving parts that allowed for lighter weight, better power output and less maintenance. The Matador was designed to have a split personality between a torquey off roader and a stylish day to day bike you could ride proudly to work. The bike’s Matador name was an intentional reference to the complicated cultural and historical symbolism of the bullfight−− where against all odds, a matador uses his smaller size, style and grace, not brute force to his advantage in conquering a bull.

In 1964 Bultaco introduced the Matador 200. The bike was designed to compete in the International 6-Days Trials (ISDT) – the ‘Olympics of Motorcycling’, considered to be the toughest tests of a motorcycle and rider. The slim but powerful Matador enduro included road equipment like a horn, headlight and turning indicators, and appealed to street riders who liked off-road ‘scrambler’ styling. The design package featured premier Betor rebuildable suspension components, Akront rims, and had a peak horsepower of 23hp. The Matador was a game-changer, and helped invent a new market for a dual-sport and street-scrambler motorcycles [and unlike other Street Scrambler models, the Matador was an extremely capable off-roader – ed.].[6]

Today, if there are street-parked Bultaco Matadors in Madrid and Seville, their presence is not obvious. Finding one among the thousands of curbed bikes in those cities would be unlikely. Like many European countries, Spain is experiencing a two-wheel revolution: Issues of affordability, parking and youth demographic have influenced the trend. This year (2025), Honda continues to dominate the market, with year-to-date sales up 8.9%. Yamaha is in second place but reported a double-digit lost -11.1%. In third place the Chinese Zontes jumped ahead 65.8%, after having increased sales by 10 times between 2020 and 2024 (a definite reflection of price point sensitivity), and BMW is now fourth, with sales up 8.9%, followed by Kymco -27.9%, SYM +5.7% and Kawasaki -1.3%.

In Barcelona, where the Bultaco story originated, if you mention the name to a guy over sixty, there’s a good chance he has heard of the bikes and knows the brand story.[7] On the other hand, for younger people, even younger motorcycle riders, the brand, its ‘el toro’ mystique and innovative influence has faded from view.

[1] The gold and silver transited from the New World first through Seville to Madrid. Today, there are incredible homes in Seville that were built between the 15^th and 16^th centuries, Palacio de las Duenas and Casa de Salinas are still inhabited by family members.

[2] The term “Moor” does not pertain to a specific ethnic group. Instead, it is a blanket term used to refer to the Berbers of North Africa and Arabian Muslims who invadd and conquered Spain from the 700s to the 1490s. The traditional blue tiles seen throughout Spain refer back to Moorish, Islamic cultural influences, as does the remarkable Moorish architecture found across central and southern Spain.

[3] Ernest Hemingway explored themes about masculinity in his writing and explored bullfighting and matadors in ‘Death in the Afternoon (1932) and ‘The Dangerous Summer’ (1960), a non-fiction piece he wrote for a Life Magazine cover article. The full story was published posthumously in its entirety in 1985.

Hemingway’s words skillfully describe the complexity of the bullfight:

‘He made two series of eight naturales [passes with a small red cloth] in beautiful style and then on a right-hand pass with the bull coming at him from the rear, the bull had him. . . . The horn seemed to go into his body and the bull tossed him a good six feet or more into the air. His arms and legs were spread wide, the sword and muleta were thrown clear and he fell on his head. The bull stepped on him trying to get the horn into him and missed him twice. . . . He was up in an instant. The horn had not gone in but had passed between his legs . . . and there was no wound. [He] paid no attention to what the bull had done to him and waving everyone away went on with his faena [work].’

[4] The majority of Spaniards are against bullfighting. According to official data from Spain’s Culture Ministry, there has been a sharp decline in the number of bullfights since 2015. Only 8 per cent of Spaniards went to a bullfight between 2018 and 2019. In addition, we know that 90.5 per cent of Spaniards did not attend a bullfight in 2018. Even though more than 90 per cent of Spaniards do not go to bullfights, more than 9,000 bulls will be killed this year. More than 50,000 bulls will be hired and exploited during bull festivals

[5] From Club Bultaco Australia 2016-2021

[6] From Classic Motocross Iron: Tom White, 2024, MXA Motocross Action.

[7] On the flight from JFK to Barcelona the sixty-nine year old man sitting next to me (a computer hardware designer), rode a Bultaco Matador as a kid. He was fluent about the brand and told me the Paco Bulto story verbatim.