In 1971, an extraordinary event is prepared in Méjanes; An event that will forever be remembered by us all.
A timeless day that thousand of us shared in this paradise that is Méjanes; the Rejon d’Or by the Cavalier de l’Apothéose.
Part of that Rejon d’Or is owed to an exceptional man, that linked his fate to Méjanes’s one. It happens to be Ramon Gallardo.
Ramon is from Valencia in Spain.
He often does corridas in the arenas of the south of France. He likes the region and moves to Arles in 1952, then to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, where he still lives.
He performs dozens of times in Arles, Fréjus, and Vallauris as a Matador. He wins the Prix Picasso. He later participates in many corridas as banderillero.
On the side of his bullfighting career, Ramon is a butcher. He buys meat from Pierre Pouly, by the exit of the Arles arenas and sells it on the Tarascon’s market, the Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer’s market, and others.
In 1971, Ramon Gallardo is the host of the Méjanes arenas. He will do the job for eight years.
Every week, Parisian tourism agencies send to the Domain buses filled with hundreds of tourists. Ramon organises the horse rides and mostly the great Camargue horse shows, courses camarguaises, mock corridas, and other traditional activities.
On Sundays, he prepares course à la cocarde, on foot and mounted corridas for a public mainly composed of people living in the region. They come on the domain to have lunch and then carry on with their afternoon enjoying the festive and really friendly atmosphere surrounded by horses, bulls, great French bullfighters such as Marius, Christian and Albert Lescot Gerald Pellen, Charles Fidano. Ramon is always seen there as banderillero.
Ramon is very close to Angel Peralta and Fermin Diaz.
Him and Angel know each other since their beginning in the bullfighting industry in Spain.
During one of his stays in Spain in a little village near Pampelune, Ramon attends a show of the Cavaliers de l’Apothéose. He finds that Rejon incredible. Something never seen before!
With Fermin, he decides to introduce this exceptional federation to the Méjanes’s audiance!
It is believed that it is José Samuel Pereira Lupi that created the concept of the Cavaliers de l’Apothéose with Alvaro Domecq, Angel Peralta and Rafael Peralta.
The Arles Feria program comes out…The bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin plans on doing his great comeback on the 14th of July 1971. The day of the Méjanes Rejon.
That leaves Méjanes with low chances of filling its arenas, with such a great event happening the same day as the Rejon, in the next town.
Unfortunately, the federation's busy schedule successfully performing all over Spain leaves us with no other option.
As a gesture for his friend Pouly who was at the time the Arles arenas' director, Ramon presents the projects. After some hesitations Pierre Pouly tells him that “after all, there is space for everyone!”.
Let’s see if the public of Méjanes will be present…
At the beginning of the afternoon of July 14th, 1971, thousands of cars arrive at the Domain. The arenas don’t take long to fill up. We have to refuse entry to people - many of them.
The show lives up to everyone’s expectations: the audience and ours.
Freddy Porte, an important figure of the Camargue and the bullfighting industry, tells us about Méjanes: “I loved Méjanes as rejoneador, enthusiast, horse show artist, and journalist. I performed on all the most beautiful stages of France and Europe, in Paris, Saumur, Geneva, and Verona. However, it was always in Méjanes that my heart raced the most.
For me, the Domaine de Méjanes represents the Temple, the Sanctuary, the Holy of holies of the Camargue, and its culture, its traditions. Especially the bullfighting traditions.
The Rejoneo in France would not be what it is if it wasn’t for Méjanes. We can’t forget that most French rejoneador started in Méjanes.
France discovers corridas fully dedicated to Rejoneo for the first time in 1971, with the Cavalier de L’Apothéose present in Méjanes, and many other great Spanish rejoneador. It is the first time that we get to fully understand the ins and outs and the purity of a culture that we couldn’t figure out until then. This goes without taking away the merit of all the French riders that came before us and who were evolving in a cultural environment mixing the Camargue and the Iberian. (These men expressed themselves with a lot of courage and talent in a distinctive manner).
It was for me the occasion to understand I needed to stop the way things were done. Jacques Bonnier, Gérald Pellen, and Luc Jalabert came to the same conclusion, and this is how a new era started for the French mounted corridas. The Spanish bullfighters’ very selective world wasn’t easy to get into, but we had managed to open its doors slightly, and it took a lot of work and energy to find our place.
I remember that one mozo de espada in exchange of a coin, let me take measures of the crates, banderilles and rejon de castigos of a rejoneador. The ones of the Maestro, Le Graal.
Since that day, on July 14th, 1971, I never missed one Rejon d’Or. During this exceptional event, the originality of Méjanes isn’t only due to the panel of excellent federations presented. The passionate audience is allowed to access the backstage in the early morning to learn and observe. At the time, there were no other places that allowed them to witness the horses and gear’s preparation, and the time the performers had to relax before entering the arenas. For a long time, it was a unique experience.
French people also discover the excellence of the Doma Vaquera in Méjanes. We are in the 80s. Seville’s great rider Rafael Jurado does a spectacular performance of Doma Vaquera with his horse “Malandrin”. The Maestro came with a full team to do a complete show. Among the riders is the young Joaquin Oliveira mounting his strong mare of the fer de Peralta “La Centenaria”. The young rising star will very quickly reach the highest competing level of his category. These riders present at the show that year were, without a doubt, the greatest source of inspiration for the development of the Doma Vaquera in France.
Everything is possible in Méjanes. I clearly remember one time in the 80s; it had rained cats and dogs all night long and part of the morning. The Méjanes arenas were almost unusable, and the corrida of the Rejon d’Or was compromised.
Anywhere else, the race would have been canceled. But on that morning, I saw Angel Peralta with a pick in his hand and Alvaro Domecq with a shovel in the middle of the arenas. They were supervising the fleet of lorries filled with sand. All of them put in the work for hours and…
The Rejon d’Or finally happened despite the apocalyptical conditions of preparation! The arenas were packed, and the race was monumental.
That type of determination and will to make everything possible doesn’t only exist in Méjanes.
This is a tribute to the riders whose recognition is worldwide, and for whom Méjanes was a stepping stone or maybe just a place to develop their talent in front of a knowledgeable audience.
Max Hasta Luego arrives in the south of France with his wife, children, and ponies in the 70s. Paul Ricard offers for them to move on the Domain to develop their show. The whole family is involved, and they perform in all the parties and events of the region. Erik Hasta Luego now lives in Nimes and has his school “Academy Hasta Luego” there. He remembers that time of creation with a lot of affection. Since then, his family is very much attached to the Domain, and they often come to enjoy a show and perform theirs.
There is also the famous Lucien Gruss and his astonishing shows in the 70s. In 2018, he is the guest of honour of the publishing company Diable Vert when his book “Pour la beauté du cheval” for which he did an outstanding show, comes out.
In July 1976, the Cadre Noir de Saumur’s riders perform in front of the Feria’s audience. Then came in the arenas, Carlos Pinto, to do a solo appearance on his Portuguese horse, Sino. The audience is stunned. No one ever saw such grace, perfection, and talent. The spectators give him a standing ovation. That day, Carlos Pinto is discovered by the French audience.
We remember the ovation she received from the audience in the Méjanes arenas when she presented her fabulous horse, Fuego. Clémence keeps a distinct and intense memory of her stay. She is one of our most fervent ambassadresses during her tours around the world.
The “child of the country” put a spell on us with his show in front of the Vaccarès pond. The incredible movielike scenery of Méjanes coupled with the huge talent of this genius, the ”mares whisperer”, leave pictures forever anchored in our minds.
