Empire Rising: Spain

The economic data from major regions are not yet detailed, but during the second round of bullfighting competitions held in Madrid from August to October, nearly every bullring in Madrid was fully packed.

Although there is no comprehensive data from various industries, the fast-food company founded by Carlo previously almost doubled its sales in the three months from August to October.

The ticket sales for various bullrings also represent a significant number. For instance, at Madrid’s largest venue, Lereta Square, because the second round of bullfighting competitions is equivalent to the finals, ticket prices are much more expensive than the first round.

The first round was just preliminary competitions in major regions, aimed at selecting outstanding bullfighters from each region to come to Madrid for the second-round finals.

The lowest ticket price for the second round at Lereta Square is 0.35 Pesseta, which is for those extremely remote seats.

Medium-level seating costs as much as 0.65 Pesseta or more, and some seats with excellent viewing spots are priced at more than 1.5 Pesseta, even in a state of high demand.

During the three months of finals from August to October, Lereta Square hosted at least three bullfighting competitions every week, and each was in a packed state.

Lereta Square, which can only accommodate 3,500 spectators, sold more than 150,000 tickets during the bullfighting finals over the three months, with ticket income nearing 100,000 Pesseta.

One Lereta Square cannot meet the needs of the finals. In reality, during the three-month finals period, more than ten bullrings around Madrid that can accommodate over 2,000 spectators were used, generating total ticket revenue of hundreds of thousands of Pesseta, not to mention the other profitability projects at various bullrings, such as collaborations with beverage and food companies.

Not only did Carlo’s fast-food company double its sales through the bullfighting events, but Madrid’s Coca-Cola Company also increased its sales by more than double.

Especially in August and September, the climate in Madrid is still quite warm. Enjoying an ice-cold Coke in the hot weather is quite refreshing, and with Coke being priced relatively low, Coca-Cola’s sales almost doubled during these two months.

However, since October, Coke sales have begun to gradually decline. It’s inevitable; while chilled Coke can retain internal gas, heating Coke allows all the gas to escape, causing it to lose its essence.

The number of people drinking ice-cold Coke in winter is naturally not high, leading to lower Coke sales in winter, but a resurgence in sales is expected next summer.

To speak of, hosting such a bullfighting competition has yielded significant results.

According to statistics from various bullrings, at least 3 million people across Spain have watched bullfighting competitions, which is already quite a substantial number.

At least half of the Spaniards are following the bullfighting events, and some outstanding bullfighters have also won popular love and acclaim.

All major regions take pride in producing an outstanding bullfighter, and these bullfighters gather in Madrid to compete in the second-round finals, further igniting the enthusiasm of people from major regions to travel to and spend in Madrid.

From Carlo’s fast-food and beverage companies, one can see how remarkably such a nationwide focusing grand bullfighting competition has boosted the economy.

It’s just that there wasn’t so-called GDP statistics at the time; otherwise, Spain’s GDP growth this year would certainly have reached a new high.

It’s worth mentioning that as the enthusiasm for bullfighting competitions ferments, in the last few months of the second-round finals, Spain’s bullfighting competition has also attracted the attention of many foreign tourists.

According to government statistics, in the three months from August to October, at least 30,000 foreign tourists came to Madrid to watch Spain’s bullfighting competitions.

Among these 30,000 foreign tourists, more than 10,000 were Portuguese, thanks to the railway connection between Portugal and Spain.

The rest were mostly Italians and French, as Italy and France are the closest European countries to Spain besides Portugal.

Carlo is somewhat relieved that the bullfighting competition has attracted the attention of not only many Spaniards but also many Portuguese.

Portuguese and Spaniards are quite similar, whether in language or religious culture; the differences between them are not significant.

Spain has bullfighting culture, and Portugal also has bullfighting culture.

However, compared to Spain, where bullfighting culture prevails, Portugal’s bullfighting culture is not as prevalent, with bullfighting competitions held only 2 to 3 months a year.

Moreover, the Portuguese Government doesn’t extensively promote or support bullfighting competitions, resulting in Portugal’s bullfighting culture remaining relatively unknown.

On the contrary, the Spanish Government puts great emphasis on the nationwide bullfighting competition held by Carlo.

The Royal Family and the government have used their influence to heavily publicize this year’s bullfighting competitions, causing almost half of the Spaniards to learn about the bullfighting competition.

Due to the close ties between Portugal and Spain, Portuguese naturally learned about the news and were quite curious about Spain’s bullfighting events.

Although Carlo does not have the idea of annexing Portugal temporarily, it is impossible to say he has no ambition regarding the tasty morsel so close at hand.