The Grupo de Forcados Aposento de Turlock has announced a leadership transition as it prepares for the 2026 bullfighting season, a milestone year marking the group’s 20th anniversary.

Following a meeting and vote among active members, the group confirmed that David Martins will become only the third captain in its history. The formal transition will take place during the group’s 20th anniversary bullfight, scheduled for September 26, 2026, when current captain Fernando Machado Jr. officially passes on the role.

The announcement comes as the Aposento de Turlock reflects on two decades of cultural, civic, and community engagement in California’s Central Valley, where it has become a reference point for preserving Portuguese and Azorean bullfighting traditions.

In addition to its role in safeguarding the forcados tradition, the group has played a meaningful part in strengthening educational and cultural exchange initiatives between the Azores and California State University, Fresno. The Aposento has actively supported the agricultural student exchange program connecting the Azores with Fresno State—an initiative developed through the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in collaboration with the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute.

This program promotes hands-on training, academic collaboration, and sustained relationships between island-based agricultural communities and California’s Central Valley. Members of the Forcados Aposento de Turlock have contributed through advocacy, community engagement, and by reinforcing the cultural foundations that make transatlantic student mobility and cooperation possible.

As the group enters its third decade, the upcoming change in captaincy is being framed not only as a moment of leadership renewal but as a reaffirmation of its broader mission: honoring living cultural traditions while investing in education, exchange, and long-term community ties across the Atlantic.

From an initial statement on the Group’s Facebook page