Ten toreros having a good summer
Leaving aside for now the main players of the 2022 temporada - Morante de la Puebla, Andrés Roca Rey and El Juli - which matadors are having a successful summer?
Top of the list must be Daniel Luque. The sevillano’s triumphant encerrona at Dax on August 13, when he cut seven ears and two tails and had one of the La Quinta bulls indultado, must rank as one of the most important afternoons of the year. In July, he went out on shoulders at Zamora, Mont de Marsan (where he was the feria triunfador), Roquetas de Mar, Huelva (where he cut four ears and a tail, with a bull of Juan Pedro Domecq indultado) and El Puerto de Santa María. He also cut single ears in the first class plazas of Pamplona and Valencia.
In August in addition to Dax, he’s enjoyed further triumphs at Azpeitia, El Puerto, El Espinar, Arganda del Rey, Peñaranda and Colmenar Viejo. It’s a shame that, unless he comes in as a substitute, his talents will not be on display in either Sevilla or Madrid as the season comes to a close.
(photo from superchannel12.com)
A torero who has enjoyed notable successes in first class plazas over the summer is the young Mexican, Leo Valadez. Following the ear he cut during Madrid’s San Isidro feria, he’s cut two ears in both Pamplona and San Sebastián and made another impressive appearance in Bilbao on August 27, when a further ear was awarded. He also had a very successful afternoon at Istres in mid-June, when he won four ears and a tail.
Tomás Rufo, appearing with the figuras and the sweetest of bulls, continues to be successful almost everywhere he appears. In Granada on June 18, he cut two ears, then followed that up with further exits on shoulders at Alicante, Huesca, Herrera del Duque, Cuenca and Casas Ibáñez, and has also experienced a number of afternoons when he was the only matador amongst his illustrious and more experienced companions to be awarded a single ear.
Some of the best news of the summer has been the return of Emilio de Justo following his serious cogida in Madrid in April. Of all things, he chose to return in a mano a mano with Roca Rey at Almería on August 21 (no pressure!). He cut three ears, equalling the Peruvian’s tally. Since then, he has gone out on shoulders at Cuenca and Ejea de los Caballeros as well and seems keen to pick up substitutions where he can given his absence for the bulk of the temporada, although he reckons it will be 2023 before he returns to full fitness.
Rafael Rubio Rafaelillo has been having a very good summer. He cut two ears on a brave and emotional return to Pamplona, where he was nearly killed in 2019, and has been twice carried out in triumph at the Peruvian plaza of Coracora. He took two ears from a victorino at Tomelloso and one ear from each of his miuras at Linares on August 28. Another noteworthy performance with cuadris at Mont de Marsan in July netted him a further ear, his toreo showing a new-found calmness and maturity.
Miguel Ángel Perera is another matador who’s been performing particularly strongly lately. He cut four ears at Guijuelo on June 19 and three at his Badajoz encerrona four days later. Then, after winning two ears in Pamplona, he once again became triunfador of Santander’s July feria, indultando a bull of La Quinta, and has since also gone out on shoulders at Huesca and Saint Gilles.
With those toreros mainly confined to third class plazas, Mario Sotos, David Galván, Sánchez Vara and Esaú Fernández are also having a good summer. Of the 11 contracts he’s had since the beginning of July, Sotos has been carried out on shoulders on seven occasions. Sánchez Vara has had eight triumphs from his last 10 corridas (three of these in Peru). Galván had a bull of Juan Pedro Domecq indultado at Estepona on July 10 before becoming one of the few matadors to experience a successful encerrona this year, cutting no less than eight ears and two tails at San Fernando on July 17. The gaditano has secured further triumphs since then at La Linea, Campofrio and Sanlúcar de Barrameda, during which time he has won a total of four ears from three Miura bulls. Fernández has fought a lot less over the summer, with just five corridas since the end of May, but can claim 17 ears and four tails during this time, with three bulls (irregularly) indultados.