Located in the area of Real de San Carlos, 5 km from the historic district of Colonia del Sacramento, capital of the department of Colonia, Uruguay. It is the only square that remains in Uruguay and was erected in a Mudejar style, very similar to the bullrings of Spain, retaining arches and some details of circumference. It is a work carried out by the Croatian architect Josip Marković and the engineer Dupuy. It was inaugurated on January 9, 1910 with eight official bullfights, although there were more than eighty, as the space continued to be used for shows even under the prohibition of bullfights by President José Batlle y Ordóñez in 1912.
The project had a two-year boom. The plaza had restaurants, bars, a stage, and a theater. Although the Uruguayan public was not sympathetic to bullfights, the attendance was important in each event since a good number of Argentine fans came on a regular basis. With the prohibition of bullfights, the bullring and the San Carlos Royal Complex began to be used for artistic shows, and the hotel and a casino continued to operate.
In 1943, the Complex passed into the hands of the Municipality of Colonia due to lawsuits against the Sociedad Real de San Carlos. Thus begins the neglect that culminates in the abandonment of the Complex and the bullring. After several months of negotiation, on October 9, 2019, the Municipality of Colonia and the MTOP (Ministry of Transport and Public Works) signed a contract with the Uruguayan company Conami, which was awarded the rehabilitation project. It is estimated that the works will last 24 months, with a total cost of approximately US$7 million, making this the largest public investment in the history of the department of Colonia. The work will be supervised by the OPP (Office of Planning and Budget), the Municipality of Colonia and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). After the remodeling, the bullring will have seating capacity for 4,200 people.
Working in the recovery and rehabilitation of works with a patrimonial importance as the bullring Real de San Carlos is always a challenge and a joy for the technical team of TECNOPOL, since the final result will surely show how to properly apply the waterproofing solutions of our company in a reference work.
