Bullfighting’s new implements put to the test
More work needed - the new puya that was tested is on the right
The proposed new implements for bullfighting I wrote about a year ago were not used, in the end, later that season in a corrida concurso at Jerez, but were finally employed last month in an experimental corrida held behind closed doors at Alba de Tormes (Salamanca).
The latest issue of Aplausos magazine reports on the event’s mixed results and the views of the participants involved.
Some of the problems encountered may have arisen from the animals selected (six animals, representing different encastes, a utrero from Montalvo and toros from Castillejo de Huebra, Antonio Bañuelos, Valdellán, Domingo Hernández and Galache) and the attitudes of the toreros involved. Domingo López Chaves, one of the participating matadors, declared after the trial ended, “The idea is a good one, but needs altering, especially the puya. The animals didn’t bleed much and I didn’t see them becoming decongested.” Yet the concept of bulls needing to bleed in order to avoid becoming congested has already been dismissed scientifically, not least by the proponents of this new equipment (see my April 2022 piece ‘Bullfighting’s new implements’). Commenting on the animals used, the veterinarian and design team member Julio Fernández said, “The last two presented complications, but I think this was more to do with the condition of the animals themselves than the effects of their picing. The sixth (the galache) did walk constantly to the muleta.”
But there were mixed views on the animals and the new puya’s effectiveness. El Capea - another of the participating matadors - commented, “There was a time when all was going well with the bulls, but, in the end, instead of surrendering to the muleta, they went a bit on the defensive and started coming early to the lure. This behaviour was repeated in all six animals. They all became animals that walked constantly and were somewhat difficult for squaring up before the kill. Whether a bull is good or bad cannot be blamed on the puya, but for the six bulls to all walk through their faenas... It is one thing for a bull to move and quite another for a bull to have sufficient punishment to surrender to the muleta. The bulls didn’t have the necessary preparation [en varas] for modern bullfighting.” The picador Pedro Iturralde, while agreeing that the new puya met his needs and would cause less damage to bulls when placed incorrectly, put his views in context by adding, “But the main thing is the opinion of the matadors as to whether the bull remains adequate for the lidia.”
The onlookers, as opposed to the matadors (the third involved, Javier Cortés, declined to comment at all), were more positive. “There were animals that demonstrated certain weaknesses in the initial tercios, but in the faena they improved - we calculated an average of over 70 muletazos per faena,” said Fernández. “The test showed that six bulls of different encastes could undertake a more complete lidia, with an average of three encounters with the horse and a longer faena de muleta.
“The least accepting of the puya were some toreros and matadors, who said that, in their opinion, the bulls were not sufficiently moderated. But I would say that this moderation isn’t produced solely in the suerte de varas: it also occurs in the muleta […] Most of the bulls didn’t come to the horse keenly, nor did they lower their heads much. With the second bull of Castillejo, its snout did brush the ground when the hand was lowered in the faena.”
Antonio Bañuelos commented, “The puya allowed the bull to go to the horse a number of times, enriching the spectacle and bringing emotion to the tercio de varas. The animal didn’t bleed much and could move better and longer in the tercio de muleta. This is very positive.”
More unanimity could be found in positive comments on the new divisa fixing, the picadors’ kevlar and foam rubber stirrup and the remodelled estoque and descabello, all of which performed well, and in negative comments on the banderillas, several of which fell to the ground after the fixture between the stick and the point of the implement became detached.
“Manolo Sales and I will continue improving the banderillas to perfect them even more and calibrating the puya to find that point of balance that allows the bull to go to the horse more than once […] and permits the toreros to express themselves without the bulls’ charges lacking emotion or leaving the toreros at the bulls’ mercy,” concluded Julio Fernández.
The closing remarks go to Victorino Martín, who was also present at Alba de Tormes: “Personally, I liked the puya […] The banderillas didn’t stay in the animals, but the problem is to do with the stick rather than the punzón. Some things need to be improved, but they’re on their way and we should be grateful for this initiative.”