Empire Rising: Spain

Since bullfighting competitions can attract the attention of the Portuguese, Carlo must more vigorously promote the prevalence of bullfighting competitions on the Iberian Peninsula.

Attract Portuguese tourists through bullfighting, strengthening economic and cultural exchanges between Portugal and Spain. After all, there is not much language barrier between the two countries; Portuguese people can even understand what Spaniards are saying without learning Spanish.

Gradually influencing all Portuguese through increased economic and cultural exchanges, making them not reject Spain, which can also expand the possibility of Portugal merging into Spain.

Speaking of the domestic environment in Portugal, it’s much worse than the current Spain. If the incorporation of Portugal into Spain through peaceful means can be awaited during Portugal’s chaotic period, naturally, it would be the best outcome.

Even if Portugal cannot be merged into Spain through peaceful means, it can still influence some Portuguese, making them not reject joining Spain.

Under the influence of these public opinions, Spain’s expansion towards Portugal can become more legitimate and reasonable, and after annexing Portugal, it will be less likely to be rejected by the Portuguese.

Actually, by mid to late October, the bullfighting competition was already basically over. Through several rounds of fierce competition, Spain’s most outstanding bullfighters were finally selected.

Of course, besides the first-place bullfighter, the bullfighters ranked in the top ten nationwide, and even those ranked in the top ten in each region, would receive different shares of monetary rewards.

But only the first-place bullfighter can receive the honor of being personally received by Carlo and will also be awarded the title of Spanish Royal Bullfighter.

The title of Spanish Royal Bullfighter is awarded to only one person each year, making such a title quite significant.

After all, to win the title of Royal Bullfighter from a large pool of Spanish bullfighters through round after round of bullfighting competitions is no easy feat.

Bullfighting is not an entertainment activity but a rather bloody challenge with extremely high danger. Even the most outstanding bullfighters dare not have the slightest disdain when facing fierce and robust bulls.

The bullfighting competition achieved great success, but there were also significant casualties during the process.

According to statistics from various regions, this year’s bullfighting competition in Spain had over a thousand bullfighters participating, yet only over 100 were able to go to Madrid for the second round of competition.

And the two rounds of competition resulted in hundreds of injuries, with more than a dozen bullfighters being directly severely injured by bulls and dying on the spot during the bullfighting competition, and dozens dying due to severe injuries and wound infections.

With the increasing prosperity of the bullfighting competition in Spain, hundreds of people will die every year due to bullfighting.

This is a rather exaggerated figure, representing the high risk of bullfighting activities.

However, compared to the benefits brought by bullfighting competitions, hundreds of casualties are also acceptable to Spain.

Bullfighters participate in bullfighting competitions at great risk, and once successful, they receive great rewards.

The bullfighters ranked in the top ten in various regions receive checks starting from at least 300 Pesseta, with some economically better regions offering checks as high as 500 Pesseta, which is more than three times the annual income of an ordinary Spaniard.

The top ten bullfighters in the second round can receive checks of at least 1000 Pesseta, and the first-place check amount is as high as 2600 Pesseta, which is twenty times the average annual income of a Spaniard.

What attracts bullfighters besides these generous check rewards is the admiration and praise from all Spaniards.

After nearly half a year of public opinion publicity, Spanish people are quite affectionate and in praise of the brave and fearless spirit of bullfighters, who are the most beloved heroes in Spain.

During the bullfighting competition, several newspapers also published small picture books about bullfighting competitions, vividly telling stories of bullfighters, which allowed more Spaniards to understand and pay attention to bullfighting competitions.

Judging by the current effects, Carlo’s plan to establish Spaniards’ brave and combative character through bullfighting competitions is quite successful.

Under the influence of this characteristic, Spain’s reserves organization is quite smooth. The populace seems not to fear death, at least not the kind of death from sacrificing for the country.

Not to mention the reserves, there is even a proposal from some members to expand Spain’s army size, bringing Spain’s armed forces back to the top level in Europe.

Unfortunately, this proposal was ultimately rejected because Spain does not currently need too many active military forces, which would only create more financial trouble.

However, regardless of the situation, the braver and more fearless Spaniards are, the stronger the Spanish Army’s combat effectiveness will be, which cannot be changed.

Carlo is more looking forward to the future performance of the Spanish Army in warfare. If developed according to such a trend, Spain’s army could evolve into a highly combat-effective elite force, and even in the future, it could challenge the German army.

Of course, this is under the conditions of a complete upgrade of both the number of troops and equipment levels. If the number of troops is insufficient and the equipment is outdated, let alone challenging the Germans, any confrontation with a major power country would be enough to cripple Spain.

In early November 1877, Carlo received Sebastian Sharp, the sole bullfighter who emerged victorious after multiple rounds of competition, and awarded him the Royal Bullfighter medal and title.

This Royal Bullfighter medal has no practical use, only serves to prove the identity of a Royal Bullfighter. However, as it’s the first bullfighting competition’s first awarded bullfighter medal, it does have certain commemorative value and significance.

At least, Sebastian Sharp himself was quite pleased and excited upon receiving this medal, for it was personally awarded and worn by Carlo.