Santander, July 27: All present
One of the programmes produced for the Santander feria had a rather strained introduction to today’s cartel, claiming that it represented the past, present and future of toreo - Eduardo Dávila Miura, making a one-off appearance to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his alternativa, represented the past; El Juli “presente, que también es pasado”; and Andrés Roca Rey “futuro, que ya es presente”. As it turned out, all three matadors made it clear they were very much part of the present.
Dávila Miura surprised me. I know he has spent many years since his retirement close to the bulls, coaching aficionados prácticos and managing toreros, but he was never a very successful matador. I was also unhappy that Santander’s new empresa, Lances de Futuro, had apparently initiated the veteran’s participation in this feria on a personal whim, when Santander’s success in the past has involved close consultation with local peñas as to which toreros they wished to see. Today, however, Dávila Miura was very good indeed and the best I have ever seen him.
He gave his opening bull of El Puerto de San Lorenzo some respectable verónicas before he and his cuadrilla lost control of the animal, it taking two unplanned entries to the picadors. There was no quite capework, and in banderillas the animal showed it maintained a strong charge. Although he understandably kept the bull well away from his body in the muleta, Dávila Miura constructed a fine faena, two long derechazos with the cloth kept low being particularly outstanding. Then one of the bull’s rear legs caught him, sending the sevillano to the ground, and in a flash the animal had turned and was upon him, lifting the matador twice and trying to gore his upper body. El Juli was quickly on the scene to take the bull away, while others helped Eduardo to his feet and checked for injuries. He had cuts on his face and his traje had a gaping hole in the stomach area, but otherwise he seemed okay and was able to return to face the bull and execute a pinchazo and a no-questions estocada. Dávila Miura circled the ring with the bull’s ear before leaving for the infirmary.
We weren’t sure he’d be coming back, but he returned, patched up, just before his second bull was due to enter the ring. He gave it some hunched verónicas and a media verónica in the opening capework. The faena was dedicated to the public and consisted of some lovely stretching muletazos con temple, concluded with superb, curving pases de pecho. Again, there was a pinchazo and estocada to end and, this time, the president decided that the strong petition wasn’t quite sufficient for an ear to be awarded. Eduardo took a vuelta instead to finish an afternoon in which he had impressed everyone with his toreo and also with his attitude.
El Juli’s first bull came into the ring dragging a rear leg and was eventually devuelto. It’s successor, a domecq with the La Ventana del Puerto brand, overturned the picador and his mount before El Juli gave it a quite of chicuelinas and a larga. The faena was very much Julián in expert ‘doing the business’ mood - an impressive opening sequence of passes to take the bull out towards the centre of the ring was followed by beautifully linked derechazos and pegged naturales. He sensibly then constructed the bulk of the faena on the right hand, a farol and trincheras bringing variety. The estocada came from a leap slightly to the bull’s side and was effective, although the bull took its time dying. The crowd wanted two ears to be awarded: the president stuck at one.
As chance would have it, El Juli’s second bull was the only other one today bearing the La Ventana hierro. Julián began the lidia with some fine verónicas and a media verónica given with the feet together, and then suprised everyone with a quite of zapopinas (or lopecinas as they are now called in Spain), very well executed indeed. The brindis was an affectionate one to Eduardo Dávila Miura. This animal was none too easy, wanting the tablas, but Julián was determined to get it to circle him and he succeeded magnificently in prolonged passes. A half-sword to the lungs was followed by a further ear.
There were mixed views on Andrés Roca Rey’s performance after the corrida. There was some excellent and varied capework to his opening bull - verónicas, a larga, close chicuelinas and tafalleras, a gaonera and a brionesa - at the end of which the animal was on the ground. Andrés made clear he wanted the bull retained, but it was no material for a triumph and in the end it sat in the faena and had to be puntillado prior to any swordwork. With the last, distracted, animal of the day, Roca Rey went all out for a triumph, starting the faena on his knees and ending it with some brave arrimón just in front of the bull’s horns, but many observers reckoned there was too much playing to the crowd. The tactic worked because, after the kill, the president eventually relented to the spectators’ petitioning and awarded Andrés an undeserved ear.