Forgotten matador wins la Copa Chenel
Fernando Adrián toreando in the rain during his debut con picadores (Olivenza 2011)
La Copa Chenel concluded at the weekend with Fernando Adrián declared as the series’ winner. The idea behind the competition, put together by la Fundación del Toro de Lidia and la Comunidad de Madrid, was to feature bulls from minority encastes with matadors experienced in facing toros duros, once-promising toreros who’d been forgotten in recent years, and some of the up-and-coming new matadors. The final, featuring Fernando Robleño, Adrián and Jesús Enrique Colombo with bulls of José Vázquez and Adolfo Martín, by chance included this same combination of toreros and it was the ‘forgotten matador’ who came out on top after winning three ears to the others’ one apiece.
An alumno of El Juli’s escuela taurina at Arganda del Rey, Adrián was a promising novillero, winning Arnedo’s ‘Zapato de Oro’ in 2011, his first temporada con picadores. The following year, now managed by Simon Casas and El Juli’s father, Adrián took part in 31 novilladas, tying with Javier Jiménez on contract numbers at the top of the escalafón. But, although he secured early triumphs at Castellón, Arles and Sevilla, amongst other plazas, as the season went on, he failed to ignite the spectators in Casas’ rings of Madrid and Nîmes.
In 2013, the madrileño had just one unsuccessful novillada at Sevilla in May before he took the alternativa in the taurine backwater of Ávila on 15 June 2013 when El Juli himself ceded him the muleta and sword. Despite cutting two ears, this was Adrián’s final appearance of that temporada - a split with Simon Casas as his manager had been announced only the day before! In 2014, he had one contract – at Mejorada del Campo in September – where he won four ears and a tail from bulls of Ángel Luis Peña Sánchez, indultando one of his animals. 2015 brought three contracts, at Jadraque, Mejorada del Campo and his home ring of Torres de la Alameda, Fernando going out on shoulders on each occasion. 2016 passed without donning the suit of lights, but in 2017 Adrián reappeared at Torres de la Alameda, cutting four ears and a tail from Baltasar Ibán bulls. 2018 again saw no contracts, but in 2019, he had a four-ear triumph at the opening corrida of the year at Ajalvir, only to have just one more corrida that season, at Tafalla in August with uncooperative Prieto de la Cal bulls. Pandemic-saturated 2020 – as for many toreros – passed without a contract.
Adrián reached the Copa Chenel final after cutting ears from bulls of Los Maños and Montealto in his opening corrida and then two ears from a bull of Zacarías Moreno in one of the semi-finals. A teacher now at Arganda’s escuela taurina, the three Copa Chenel corridas he took part in were his only professional appearances this year. After the award of the Copa, Fernando commented: "All the sacrifice and dedication I’m putting into every afternoon are having their reward. But the most important thing is that, next season, I can express all the toreo that I have inside and that people see that there is a Fernando Adrián with a long future. Bullfighting is the most beautiful thing there is, for the greatness it contains and for giving you an opportunity like this to return to the circuit. I don't have a manager, but that's not what worries me the most at present. Now, I’ve a very important winter ahead of me and I hope that the next year will be a good one.”