Antonio Ferrera’s Badajoz encerrona: Past - Present - Future?

In advance of Antonio Ferrera’s facing six bulls at Badajoz on October 24, the corrida organisers, FIT, said the afternoon would feature a number of details on behalf of the matador in support of the taurine world. One of these details was the wording in the plaza overlooking the arena: “El Arte nunca muere … 16 de mayo 1920” in recognition of this year being the centenary of Joselito el Gallo’s death at Talavera de la Reina.

Indeed, the corrida provided a fitting tribute to ‘el rey de los toreros’. In recent years, Ferrera has sought inspiration from the toreo of the Golden Age and here it was on full display, particularly in the matador’s determination to quitar himself, taking his bulls away from the picador’s horse rather than leaving that task to a peón. A quite of capotazos de frente por detrás was especially memorable.

Joselito, of course, placed banderillas too, and it was fitting that Ferrera should opt to place two pairs himself on the last bull after the afternoon had featured several splendid pairs from his subalternos.

The present loomed large over the corrida as well as the past. The variety in Ferrera’s toreo displayed the artistic heights today’s toreo has reached, while the many linked passes - particularly Ferrera’s series of true naturales - evidenced how far toreo has come over the past 100 years. Around the top of the bullring were displayed the flags of the various countries in which toromaquia plays a part, also reflected in the colours adorning the corrida’s banderillas.

For those aficionados concerned that the choice of bulls from Zalduendo - one of today’s ‘commercial’ ganaderías, renowned for providing weak but toreable animals - would dilute the spectacle, their concerns proved misplaced. The six bulls fought all had decent trapío and presence, with the first and fourth charging strongly in the muleta and the third and sixth needing a thinking torero (which Ferrera is) to get anything out of them. Two dramatically violent tossings underlined the dangers that toreros still face.

It was good too to see Antonio call out all the toreros supporting him in the encerrona to share in the applause before the proceedings began, particularly at a time when many cuadrilla members have been overlooked by Spain’s political authorities when it comes to coronavirus measures to ward off poverty caused by people’s work shutting down.

But whether the corrida had anything to say about bullfighting’s future, I’m not so sure. Ferrera being Ferrera, there were a number of departures from the norm - not only his walking approach towards the kill, but ordering the picing of the second bull to take place in los medios with the bull approaching the horse from las tablas; performing ‘naturales’ with the ayuda in his left hand, stretching out the cloth; and placing one pair of banderillas during the first tercio in the lidia of the final bull. None of these features, it seems to me, has any bearing as to how toreo will develop in the future. Indeed, a number of informed commentators have bemoaned these moves away from taurine rules that have generally made good sense.

The 2020 temporada is drawing to a close with only Olivenza (in March), Arles and Nîmes (in September) being able to hold significant ferias and all of Spain’s premier plazas failing to hold any events at all. The impact on ganaderías, forced to send animals bred for the bullring to the slaughterhouse to be sold for their meat for a fraction of their anticipated price, will become clear over the next few months. Similarly, men who had imagined a career based upon the corrida may well be having second thoughts - Toñete, one of the new matadors showing promise, has recently announced his retirement. Although (as always) there has been much talk of the need for bullfighting reform, there is little indication at this stage that anything might happen. Spain’s Government and its Minister of Culture seem happy to see bullfighting wither on the vine, so positive reform is unlikely to occur from that source, while the objectives of la Fundación del Toro de Lidia’s Gira de Reconstrucción (about the only initiative coming from the mundillo itself) remain unclear.

Perhaps the lesson of Antonio Ferrera’s Badajoz encerrona is simply that we should be grateful for such afternoons while we still have them.