CLUB TAURINO OF LONDON

The Club Taurino of London currently has about 280 members, whose command of Spanish varies from nil to native, and we mostly find it convenient to communicate in English with a smattering of technical words in Spanish. The experience of members ranges from novice to expert, so there is plenty of room for new members with more enthusiasm than knowledge.

The Club was founded in 1959 by George Erik and a small group of fellow aficionados. We have grown into a loosely structured club of members who share a common interest in taurine matters. We have meetings at 8 pm on the second Thursday of every month. These meetings are organised around special events arranged by the members. They may be visits by special guests from the taurine world, discussions of specific themes, book sales, quizzes, or simply the showing of videos, and the opportunity to meet up with other members for a chat in a convivial atmosphere. We are presently accommodated in a Spanish restaurant and tapas bar located centrally in London. Naturally enough, members also meet up at ferias, but this is all very casual. We do not make package travel arrangements, because experience has shown that members prefer to go their own way. We do, however, offer discounted air travel through the CTL Iberia Travel Club, and individual members are always happy to offer advice.

The most important feature for most of our widespread membership is the bi-monthly magazine La Divisa. This publication is composed entirely from contributions by members. There are news items, personal reports of corridas, translations of foreign articles, illustrations, and original articles debating taurine themes. The very high quality of this publication is admired world wide, and it is seen as the leading English language publication on the subject. The Club also has an extensive video library which makes available copies of PAL VHS cassettes of taurine subjects for members. We produce occasional publications, such as Walter Johnston's Brave Employment, and most recently an English translation of the Spanish Taurine Regulations.

There is an annual Anniversary Dinner on the last weekend of November. This is generally held in a London restaurant, and the Club invites celebrities from the taurine world. In 1999 our guest was the matador José Tomás. The year before, our guests were the ganadero, Victorino Martín, and the matador Victor Mendes. In recent years we have received the matador, Julio Robles, the matador Manuel Caballero, José Miguel Arroyo Joselito, the senior President of the Madrid plaza de toros, Luis Espada Simon, the veteran photographer Cano, and the matador Luis Francisco Esplá. The CTL Trophies for the best matador, novillero and ganadero for the year, as elected by the membership, are announced at the Anniversary Dinner. In the Spring of 1999, we hosted a Special Lunch to celebrate our 40th year and were joined by Enrique Ponce to receive a special commemorative award. In February 2000, we will receive a visit from the Miura Brothers and matador Ruiz Miguel.

Membership fees for the year 2000 are as follows:
UK single membership £25 per annum
UK couples membership £27 per annum
Europe/EU (Single or Couples) £30 per annum
Rest of the World: Airmail £40; seamail £30 per annum

If all the above sounds like the sort of association you would like to join please write to the Secretary General at the following address, giving full, clear details of your name, address and phone numbers, and your application will be processed.
Club Taurino of London
PO BOX 10800
LONDON N10 2BD
or via e-mail to 101606.1467@compuserve.com