Jock Richardson

August 22 – Don’t Knock the President!

As ‘Marchante’ entered the arena with its anovillado frame, the tango claps were soon sounding out. It had a decent pair of horns mounted on its teenage head but they did not make this first of today’s Victoriano del Río string a toro de Bilbao – or anywhere else. José Mari tripped his way out of each of his welcoming verónicas and did not place the bull, let’s call it that, before the horse; a director of the lidia who has not yet learned the rules. The bull did not stay long with the horse on either encounter. It did charge the banderilleros. When Manzanares is toreando, the pans on the assessment scale rise and fall from the sickening to the sublime. On many of his pases today, he abused the pico, or stepped away laterally from the toro, or cited from way off the line of charge, or allowing enganche after enganche, or several of these things together. On the up-side, he once drew the bull in close on a natural templado. Overall, it was mighty uninspiring stuff. At least he can kill well and did so with an estocada from a direct entry. Ears don’t normally come cheap in Bilbao; this one cost him practically nothing, but there was a majority petition and Matías did his duty.

The fourth bull, ‘Lastimada’, looked as young as had done ‘Marchante’, but Manzanares seemed much more comfortable with it. His complete series of verónicas templadas in the welcome were highly pleasing, and he conducted the suerte de varas well. The bull was properly placed and persisted nobly under the pic. The chicuelinas of the quite were slow and close. As he walked the bull to the tercios with elegant low derechazos, he was in full control of the situation. And things continued well through two complete series of linked derechazos, with man and bull in total harmony. With the left-hand, things rose even farther. The naturales en redondo were long, slow and elegant and the long curving chest pases seemingly eternal. The whole was made the more rhythmic with appropriate reviving pauses for the bull. At one point, he switched to the right, gave a pase and a cambio de mano before a desplante stroking the horn. Why he had to resort to a tight, rough arrimón of derechazos is a mystery, but he did. That may not have lost him an ear. A well-delivered estocada, after which the sword fell out, did that, in spite of a final Manzanares trademark perfect thrust.

Alejandro Talavante did not have his day. His draw gave him two bulls without the least trace of class, breeding or aggression. His first was noble, weak and collapsing and had not a trace of difficulty. Talavante dealt with it in a stroll through his repertoire in a casual style. Of course, some of the work was pleasing to the eye, but overall it did nothing for the heart, the brain or the soul. He finished off the insult to the bravo breed with a pinchazo bracketed with two estocadas, only the second of which was effective. The fifth bull was no more a toro bravo than had been the second and we had a similar Talavante performance. This time, he tended to run the bull in straight lines as far from his body and ayuda and pico would allow. It was excruciating, and when the bull gave up on him and he gave up on it, the march for the real sword was a relief. It was death by six cuts: a pinchazo, a media atravesada and four descabellos.

‘Soleares’ weighed 540 kilos, looked like a bull, and charged like a bull. Like its relatives, it had horn tips so black that they appeared painted. None of which stopped the small coterie of guardians of the Toro de Bilbao (whatever is or was that?) high up in the Gods from greeting it with tango handclaps. It careered in for its first pic and persisted against the light punishment and took another, from a place of its, rather than Roca Rey’s, choosing. Roca’s boys, Punta and Algaba, provided a brilliant second tercio with this noble cooperator. The faena started in typical Roca Rey fashion, he clutching the barrera, and administering impressive estatuarios and cambiados. He moved a few steps out and gave an authentic pase del desdén. The jerky, quick derechazos that followed were as popular as they were ugly. Roca was not getting the measure of this bull and his following naturales were muy destemplados and enganchados till he eventually lost his muleta. Some derechazos were similar, but he lost the lure at the end of them as well. He was teaching his noble calf bad habits and it was soon lifting its head up high. Like the dragon in the Argos advert, Roca was not having that, so he went for the real sword, took an age to align the bull for a media atravesada and left his peones to do the rest. In that chaotic process, one of them was caught.

‘Cochabamba’ was another bull that was slow hand-clapped on entry. True, it was not an impressive specimen visually, having shortish horns, but it was a bull and did not deserve such a reception. Roca’s welcoming delantales were flat, close and wonderfully clean. The bull was not placed en suerte for the first pic and got there accidentally for the second. It seemed glad to be lightly treated. Viruta’s two pairs were brilliantly placed. Roca set the scene with his dedication to the public. He opened on his knees with derechazos on straight lines both regular and cambiados. There was another of his pases del desdén when they ended. My notes say, “Disdain for the bull or for the public?” (But I am a famous cynic as far as the toreo of this matador goes.) The faena started with derechazos templados at a lateral distance; there was one enganche, but overall they were magnificently done. And so was the next series: this time close and ended with a chest pase that went up and round like a crescendo at the Proms. The close and templados naturales that ended this first phase of the faena were just as convincing. All of this beautiful and artistic toreo is not, unfortunately, what Andrés Roca Rey is really about. He seemingly likes to excite the crowd with apparently death-defying close work that persuades them that he is toreando in the ante room to death. He did that in a very close collection of tight derechazos in a palm-sized area of ground. The lady next to me emerged from her trance for a minute to lecture me on how brave he was being. My response that the bull was nearly dead and his cites were all with him way behind the horns did not impress her – and I did not expect it to. He killed soon thereafter with an estocada desprendida. It was all very jolly. Most of those present wanted Matías to award the second ear. I don’t know whether he had the reglamentos in mind, but he did not award it. I hope he, like me, loves the reglamentos:

“79. 2. c) La segunda oreja de una misma res será de la exclusiva competencia de la Pre- sidencia, que tendrá en cuenta la petición del público, las condiciones de la res, la buena dirección de la lidia en todos sus tercios y en especial en la suerte de varas, cuidando que se dosifique el castigo y que los picadores lo apliquen en el lugar correcto, y la faena realizada tanto con el capote como con la muleta y, fundamentalmente, la estocada.”

The bull did not please the public as it entered, before they were hypnotised by the matador; Roca Rey had not placed the toro en sitio before the horse properly; and his estocada was low. Of course he did not deserve the second ear.

¡Viva la Fiesta Brava! ¡Vivan los reglamentos taurinos! ¡Viva Matías González Calvo!

Post scriptum. Worst of all, several critics, including some I normally trust, argued next day that he should have been awarded the second ear because it would have promoted la fiesta in Bilbao.

August 23 – Final of III Memorial a Iván Fandiño

The competition in memory of Iván Fandiño organised by BMF had been weeded down to three novilleros: Salvador Herrera, Julio Méndez and Julio Norte. They faced novillos of Rekagorri. Salvador Herrera was unconvinced by the rapid charges of his novillo and was bumped unceremoniously early in his cape work soon after a welcome in which he had performed some smooth verónicas and a revolera. Julio Méndez replied with a series of tafalleras. Herrera started his faena on his knees, but soon discovered how uncomfortable that kind of toreo can be, got to his feet and delivered derechazos from a great lateral distance and with many enganches. The novillo reacted to his chaotic movements, caught him and sent him flying. He caught the lure on the way down and rushed some pegged naturales, using lots of pico. There was no doubt that he was trying his best and for a brief, glorious, moment he made a single series of beautiful naturales. He had even more trouble with his second animal, an enormous castaño with more trapío than Manzanares’ first bull yesterday: a veritable novillo de Bilbao. He was cautiously distant at first, the lure was often caught and he was bumped by the novillo’s passing frame several times. Gradually, he pulled himself and the novillo together for a final phase of canonical toreo. It was enough for the sparse, but generous, crowd to give him an ear.

Julio Méndez drew a very large castaño in second place. He welcomed it with a series of high school verónicas and made a quite of tafalleras, a lance he clearly enjoys doing. He did well in his opening pases por alto and pases cambiados. He was in luck. The novillo was superstrong and super-noble and he gave a super-extended faena with it. Mostly based on the right hand, it did contain enough left-handers to prove his worth. He went on for a long time and ended with the inevitable bernadinas. They were close and spectacular. It took him an age to kill the novillo, which took the shine off what would have been a triumph. He faced another huge castaño in fifth place: another strong, noble and persistent animal. His opening gaoneras were showy, as were Julio Norte’s saltilleras. Méndez was a telegraph pole in his early derechazos por alto and cambiados. When it came to the derechazos, his work would have had many a figura eating his heart out. He could not go on forever, even though he probably wanted to, and he put the novillo to death while it still had the strength to allow a prompt kill.

*Julio Norte (image from salamanca24horas.com)*

Julio Norte had to skid unceremoniously out of his portagayola just before he was killed. He was soon being bumped in some hairsbreadth and hair-raisingly close chicuelinas. These youngsters do not shrink from their responsibilities. The novillo caught and trampled over a banderillero; fortunately, only his amour propre was damaged and he immediately placed an excellent pair of sticks. One single series of naturales by Norte stimulated the band to play. The novillo had slowed down, which marred the flow of the multitude of single low naturales on which the faena was based; they were not badly done until he was caught in one. He was soon restored, the strains of ‘Chiclanera’ rang out again – until he was tossed and silence reigned till he placed his fulminant estocada. His work to the sixth novillo was less spectacular. Based on orthodox school-taught pases, Norte, tall and careful gave an elegant lesson in derechazos and naturales.

I hate to admit it, but we left the plaza before the results were announced [Julio Norte was pronounced the winner – TW]. The bulls are the most important things in Bilbao, but the chuletones, the besugos, and the rodaballos don’t come many miles behind.

August 23 – Bilbo Bids Farewell to Enrique Ponce

Enrique Ponce is much-loved in Bilbao and those who like his sort of thing have granted him the status of an iconic hero. He has certainly won many a triumph here. The aurresku, that Basque dance done on ceremonial occasions, is athletic, solemn, yet of Duplantis verticality. I have seen it a hundred times and still cannot judge whether it is being well or badly done. It certainly goes on for a long time and, judging from Enrique’s response to it, it is muy emocionante. And the standing ovation he received in los tercios in front of the burladero de matadores had a similar effect, and the two dedications by his compadres de cartel were as moving as they were correct. His first Daniel Ruiz was weak. In his habitual fashion, Ponce did not place it en sitio before the horse. Its first pic was fierce and delivered with barreneo, and the second was rough between the lines. Curro Vivas and Fernando Sánchez raised the temperature with a beautiful and accurate second tercio. There were four outstanding moments midst the pegged despegados pases of Ponce’s faena. He linked a right-handed series en redondo of silken temple early in the work, and, half way through, there were five linked pases with the left that demonstrated that the master in him has not atrophied during his holiday. The old Enrique Ponce appeared again in a final series of knee-down doubling pases and a clock-stopping kikirikí. He killed with an estocada but slightly desprendida.

‘Visitante’, a handsome castaño, was properly placed for the two light varas in which it complied. There were more of Ponce’s pure doblones to open the faena, and his pass-and-trot-away derechazos were elegant and templados. That was about it. Ponce is an excellent enfermero torero – he is well practised in the trade – and after a single flowing series that was as elegant as it was graceful - until he lost his muleta – he was doomed to the single, often enganchado, pase. His horn-stroking desplante at the end was, for this watcher at least, like the stroking of a dying father’s forehead by a grieving daughter in one of those Victorian deathbed scenes. The lady next to me brought me to my senses by loudly praising Enrique Ponce’s courage. ¡Hay para todos! And Enrique Ponce has given something to each of us over his long career.

Roca Rey is a hero in Bilbao, just as Enrique Ponce is. Even critics are keen to see him cut ears, even when they are not earned. His first bull at 540 kilos looked awfully like Enrique’s first. It was a little stronger. The march to los medios with advancing verónicas had all the confidence, cadence, and rhythm that anyone could ask for: they controlled the bull precisely. He compensated for the dreadful suerte de varas over which he presided with a quite of five gaoneras as pleasing as had been his veronicas, and Viruta placed two wonderful pairs of sticks. His pases por alto and por bajo made an excellent start for a faena. All of the above had, unfortunately, tired the bull, so what followed was a demonstration of how to draw passes from a bull with mobility problems. They were singly done, technically correct and completely devoid of emotion or transmission. If it was Roca’s fault, the sin had been committed long before the bull had come to the arena. His pal Daniel Ruiz had bred the bull and he had probably had a hand in choosing it for the cartel. He killed with a pinchazo and an estocada tendida.

The highlights of the first two tercios to the handsome negro chorreado ‘Madrileño’ were a quite of unbelievably close, precise and beautiful chicuelinas from Pablo Aguado and two pairs of banderillas from Paco Algaba. As so often happens with Roca Rey, the faena was in two parts: an opening phase in which he enticed the cynic into believing that he has a great deal of fine toreo in him and hoping that he will show it all with a single bull; and a second half in which, to the delight of the majority, he dissolves into showmanship that at least borders on the tremendismo. He started with templados derechazos de rodillas, but lost his lure as he rose to his feet. The three series of derechazos that followed were close, linked and flowing, the matador precisely positioned but the delivery natural and made the more aesthetically beautiful by his height and his phenomenal reach. The coda was a sweety poke of ornate flourishes: a derechazo, an afarolado and a chest pass. Just before he fell off his pedestal, during a set of pegged naturales, he delivered two huge, tension-liberating, chest pases that were worthy of a Bellas Artes medal. And then: he was off into the close, tight, twisting of an exhausted bull with reverse circulares, half pases and various enganches. The kill was a pinchazo delantera and an estocada entera. There was a near majority petition; Matías did not move a muscle. We had broken a record for us. We had seen Roca Rey meet six bulls in a week and cut only one of the 12 available ears.

Pablo Aguado’s first bull was inaptly named ‘Enemigo’. It is to be imagined that there is more aggression in a nunnery. Fortunately, it had a small degree of willingness, and Aguado’s opening verónicas were classical and beautifully made. After being well placed for its first positive charge for a moderate pic, it suffered a mental change. Try as he might, the picador used up his three attempts to make it charge and correctly had to ignore the outer circle. Before the bull went completely rajado, after about 10 passes, Aguado treated us to a derechazo and a pase del desdén to start and some flowing naturales of great temple and rhythm. Fortunately, Aguado had no intention of wasting either his time or ours and took the real sword to administer two pinchazos off curves and a descabello.

There is a calculated lightness about the toreo of Aguado that, when it appears, transmits strongly to the tendido. As I have seen him, not very often and more on television than in the flesh, it has become increasingly obvious. He welcomed the bull with successive verónicas of incredible temple and grace, and then used impeccable walking chicuelinas to take it to the horse. Two light pics and three fine pairs of sticks had a bizarre accompaniment: a child’s balloon that looked like a fish and hovered like a drone descended into the action as if keen to discover what was going on. It, had it been animate, would not have seen much. Aguado drew a long and templado series of derechazos from his rapidly weakening bull and was then forced into single pases, mostly with the right hand. Single and lacking in depth they may have been, but they were done with a clean precision and a gentleness of flow that injected impatience to see him again. Even pegging passes, Pablo Aguado has technique and style to make waiting for him with the authentic bull ultimately worthwhile. He killed this poor specimen with an estocada muy tendida.

It had been an afternoon steeped in sadness. Weak bulls are never appropriate, but when they appear in what should have been a celebration of the career of a man who had given delight to so many bilbainos and their guests over the years, they cast a dark shadow. It would have been great to see Enrique leave his feudo with at least a couple of trophies, even for a man to whom the greatest poncista of all time once wrote, in a kindlily expressed message, “I know that Enrique is not your favourite”. Even the two emotional vueltas did not seem enough to him: they certainly were not enough to thank Enrique Ponce.

August 24 – Bilbo Bids Farewell to Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza

The prelude to the farewell of Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza, another man who has brought much joy to the city of Bilbao and its people, was even gloomier than had been Enrique’s departure of the day before. He sat at the head of the paseíllo on a grey horse, its hooves on the near-black sand of Vista Alegre, in a dark blue suit but sprinkled with silver – even the maestro of the txistu and danbolina was dressed in sombre black from txapela to espadrilles. The aurresku was identical to that of yesterday.

The first session of rejoneo by Pablo to the first of his San Pelayo (murubes of the daughter of Niño de la Capea inscribed in la Asociación) bulls was mighty sombre also. After his preliminary circuits of the toro, he rammed a rejón de castigo so crosswise into the bull that it emerged from its side. His first placement of banderilla in a quiebro from a frontal approach was spectacular and accurate, but, as he placed the second from a cuarteo, he was drifting away from the bull before the placement. He rode 240 degrees along the boards in a mendocina ridden with masterly skill and, after his second placement, rode 180 degrees back. The bull fell as he placed the second banderilla from a frontally cited quiebro, and after a third, placed al cuarteo, he cited for and placed a fourth stick close to and parallel with the barrera. The bull was very stationary by now - no wonder - but that did not prevent Pablo from finding a way to drop in three banderillas cortas from tight, well-judged circuits. No doubt the faena would have redeemed him from the curse of his first rejón, but his kill put paid to any trophy: a pinchazo, a metisaca in the querencia of the boards, a total miss and two descabellos.

Pablo’s first rejoneo de castigo to his second bull dropped to the ground in the middle of his quiebro. Adjusted, he placed a banderilla from a perfectly judged quiebro. His next banderilla was just as well done and the mendocinas of 180 degrees one way and 60 degrees the other were precise. He missed an entry from a closely-cited quiebro, but redeemed himself with a quiebro of perfect preparation and placement. His fourth banderilla was placed with the horns at the horse’s backside, but nobody seemed to notice. If they did, the memory was probably obliterated by his perfectly-executed trio of banderillas cortas. This had been a much stronger and more cooperative bull, and it moved well for a quickly and accurately placed rejón de muerte. The scene was set for the final farewell act as he cut two ears.

Diego Urdiales was interviewed in this morning’s El Correo. His headline statement was, “I have made the people in Bilbao weep because I do not only give passes, I perform toreo”. He told the truth. There is no torero who can illustrate the laws of toreo puro better than the man from Arnedo. He also told the truth when he claimed that he had been ill-treated by having had to wait five years to be invited back. He was warmly welcomed by the aficionados who remembered his earlier triumphs and had to wait a bit longer to perform again. Unfortunately, to perform toreo, it is necessary to have a toro bravo with which to perform it. The first two bulls that emerged for him were cripples, the first so much so that it fell against the barrera and had to be apuntillado in the ring; neither was a good advert for the Fraile family. The first Fraile that remained in the ring was a Valdefresno, an Atanasio/Lisardo Sánchez version. It was very distracted and was subjected to shambolic lidia after its first positively-taken, firm, pic, and given a fierce puyazo in its second entry. Diego did not seem to notice the brilliant tercio de banderillas provided by his boys: they deserved the saludos they did not get. I wondered if the bull was blind. Diego was certainly very careful with it in his opening pases por bajo and his derechazos. It was typical Diego Urdiales stuff, adapted to the potentially dangerous behaviour of the bull. There was a huge succession of naturales, each one calculated but more workmanlike than artistic. Urdiales soon killed with a pinchazo and an estocada after a session of good toreo to a poor bull.

The fifth bull came from Puerto de San Lorenzo, a Fraile bull with the same blood as the Valdefresno. Urdiales’s opening lances to its wildly hooking head were but testers. The bull showed little interest in its first pic, but charged from a distance for its second; it left the encounter very quickly. It was not a bull for a dedication, but the gift went to Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza. This distracted, searching, bad-tempered manso was slow to move, and, when it did charge, it was dangerously erratic. Diego Urdiales did the right thing, badly. He took the real sword, placed it from a huge outward curve and needed five pinchazos, a media estocada and five descabellos to finish his unpleasant afternoon.

‘Zarandillo’ was another bull from Ventana del Puerto, a Fraile bull of Domecq ancestry. The first two welcoming verónicas by Juan Ortega were perfectly clean and templadas, but the welcome descended into lances enganchados. Placed twice properly en suerte, the bull charged with a will and pushed strongly at well-measured pics. It also charged the banderilleros well. The faena started with low derechazos, one knee to the ground, and then with the matador erect. They were clean, templados and rhythmical, pure toreo made art. His chest pase from the next series was a fraction short and lowered the effect from brilliant to pleasing. The elevating toreo was continued in the low naturales en redondo that followed, a series that ended in the corporate sigh at a kikirikí. The bull might have been a domecq, but it was not easy. There was perfection in his pases, but the construction of the faena was tarnished by the fact that Ortega had to use a wide area of the ring to get them. A positive feature of Ortega’s work is his care. He never took his eyes off the horns, and all the while he was striving to combine his pases into series. As I have seen him, he has improved in confidence and success this season and, in the right circumstances, he is justifying his classification as un torero de arte. He ended this faena with a low perpendicular sword and a descabello. He was given an ear.

Juan Ortega silenced the tango claps that greeted the 545 kilo ‘Nautico’ of Ventana del Puerto with six chicuelinas so close, templadas, controlling and beautiful that they would have silenced the Glastonbury 200,000. The bull was slight of frame, it is true, but it was powerful enough to accept two firm pics willingly and to cooperate in a well-executed second tercio. There was a march to los medios with ayudados por bajo as aesthetically pleasing as they were technically accurate. In one of those tragic taurine accidents, Juan was caught by a banderilla in the chest pase, and the series was left unbuckled. Greatness re-emerged in the templados derechazos ended with a tight trincherazo that followed. Juan Ortega’s highly praised Valdemorillo faena early in the season did not win universal approval. His work today suggested to me that we have in him a taurine artist of great technical skill and boundless promise. The bull was slowing, and the artist turned to journeyman. The derechazos towards the end were individually complete, but performed a shade distant laterally from the bull. The people who had come – a mere 5,800 of them – liked them. His need to use the descabello this time led to a light petition and saludos. His success brought a bittersweet afternoon to a heartening close. I can’t remember if a prostrate Pablo kissed the ashes again – but I think he did.

August 25 – Los Dolores Aguirres Cometh

Most of the bulls we have seen this week have been either docile cooperators with so-called ”taurine artists” or bred down cripples from which all or most of the native aggression has been removed by careful artificial selection. Fuente Ymbros emerge a little from this evil swamp, but not all of them and not very far. The word “complicado” is rarely used to describe a bull these days, and often when it is, it is part of a fake news publicity statement for some ganadero or torero. But when the Dolores Aguirres come!

Surprisingly few turn up to see them; only around a third of the plaza was covered today. They do not meet taurine artists and little taurine art is performed with them. They are big, complicated, sometimes cowardly, often in a bad-tempered way, and their behaviour makes the hair of the spectator stand on end. When they enter the ring, a terrible beauty is born. They are real bulls with a multitude of virtues and vices, and they alone would make a week in Bilbao worth the visit. Today, they were faced by Fernando Robleño, a madrileño with tons of experience with toros duros; Damián Castano, who helped make the Dolores Aguirre day an epic corrida last year; and José Garrido, with much less experience than the other two with difficult bulls.

‘Bilbatero’ was a cuatreño, but had still put on 640 kilos of muscle; it had horns to match. Hugely handsome it was, but it was also very distracted and, after some low welcoming verónicas by Robleño, it went careering round the ring, hugging the boards. Led into sitio, it turned away from the challenge and had to be persuaded back. When finally placed, it went to the horse with the focus of a guided missile. It did the same after another distantly accurate placement for a pic that was as strong as it was badly done. Its formidable size and distracted nature troubled the banderilleros not a jot. They placed three magnificent pairs. Robleño was faced with two problems, three if the formidable size of the bull is included: the animal continued to be distracted, and it tended to seek the querencia of the barrera. On the positive side, when engaged, it put its head down and charged nobly. Robleño is a trained and practised lidiador and was a match for the problems posed by the bull. He drew it through two lovely low series of derechazos that were long from cite to remate and linked and rhythmic as a Viennese waltz. (Did I write that little art could be performed with these bulls?) He alternated between right and left hand pases of a similar nature till ‘Bilbatero’ rushed off to its comfort zone at the toriles. Robleño persuaded it out with a calculated series of derechazos. It is not difficult to describe these things. It is impossible to convey the intensity of feeling conveyed between what is going on in the arena and the tendidos: that transmission of the presence of danger and uncertainty of what will happen next. It is intense and, because death lurks in the enclosed space, frightening. Not that we needed to worry too much about Fernando Robleño. He had mastered the bull and entered to kill en corto y por derecho to place an estocada in exactly the right place. Why the petition was a minority one, I will never know.

The fourth bull was a beautiful negro burracco coletero of 601 kilos. It rushed to the reserve picador, only to be turned by a peón with a sweeping larga; these bulls keep everyone on their toes. Eventually, it took two measured pics after positive charges from accurate placements. Toreros like Robleño do not have the casual approach to the varas of the figuras; maybe that is because they forge their ability to lidiar and bregar in the south of France where la Fiesta Brava still exists. This ‘Clavellino’ moved quickly and kept its head at mid-height, presenting Robleño with two problems. His toreo was forced beyond the artistically templado by the first, and drawing the bull’s head down for the kill was rendered difficult by the second. The animal did have sparks of nobility, which lowered the danger somewhat. That allowed Fernando to create quickly-executed series of linked derechazos and frantic naturales more satisfying for their courageous execution than for any aesthetic value they had. By the end of the work, the bull had slowed down in its charges and was paying more attention to the speed of the lure. Unfortunately, the matador’s failure to align the bull properly, and his difficulty in getting its head down, marred the kill; his estocada was atravesada and he needed five pinchazos to kill after the aviso had sounded. The messy ending could not remove the memory of an intelligent and brave faena.

*Damian Castaño (image from bmftoros.com)*

Damián Castaño made an epic contribution to the Dolores Aguirre corrida here last year. The only thing missing this year was the rain. ‘Carafea’ was not in the least ugly, facially or otherwise. It weighed 596 kilos and was applauded on entry. It was distracted, but Castaño caught it nicely in a couple of precise verónicas and a clean recorte. Placed correctly in suerte twice, the bull accepted two hard pics from Tito Sandoval, pushing the horse all over the ring in the second. It was equally impressive as it charged for three fine pairs of farpas. The faena was brief and well formed. Based primarily on the right hand, it did have one series of long and linked naturales. The derechazos were well formed also and there were several series of them. After Robleño’s exciting work to his first, this was praiseworthy for its competence and structure rather than for any heart-in-the-mouth feelings. Had not the estocada come out of the bull’s side, it would have had a positive reward.

‘Burgales’ was a black toro of but 546 kilos. It was very distracted and had very weak legs. It survived two long pics from Javier Martín before it was removed as unfit much later than it should have been. The replacement bull was ‘Argelón’: 633 kilogrammes of toro de Bilbao and with the conformation we should always see. One must see a bull like this after the succession of descastados mansos Chopera, FIT and Co., normally provide in this bullring to realise what a fraud their normal corrida is. Castaño welcomed its distracted bulk with some verónicas, but it was not having that; it chased him unceremoniously over the barrera. The fierce pics to which the bull was subjected tempered its wild charges not at all, and, when it arrived at the second tercio, it put the banderilleros through Hell. Chacón, master that he is, placed one brilliant pair. The rest came singly, placed more in hope than with competence. This bull directed its attacks, and they were potentially lethal attacks, at Castaño every time he cited it to charge. There is only one way to torear a bull like this: cite de frente; keep it focussed on the lure; and lead it to where it should be, far enough away to give time for the man to compose himself for the next attack. Or, put differently, according to los cánones. It is a technique all the toros duros men have used, not, I think, because they choose to, but because the bull forces them to. Done with the expertise that Castaño demonstrated today, even successions of rapid derechazos pragmatically constructed bring the aficionados of Bilbao to their feet. The members of the Club dos Puyazos to whom he had dedicated the death of the bull must have loved it too: it is their type of toreo. I wonder – not often because I don’t see much of it - as I watch this brutal but strangely beautiful bullfighting, if it is the kind of thing that motivated Hemingway as he wrote Death in the Afternoon.

José Garrido is relatively new to this kind of thing. He will torear Capea murubes on Friday in Tarazona de Aragón with Morante and Juan Ortega, two taurine artists from Seville. ‘Cigarrero’ was a bull of 622 kilos with horns like scythes. Unfortunately, the boy Garrido had been sent on a man’s errand. Although the bull was the star of the corrida – and the feria – for its combination of all the virtues, Garrido was unable to draw these virtues out. True, his welcoming verónicas were close, templadas, even brilliant, and the suerte de varas was conducted immaculately in two quality pics by José María González, before an excellent second tercio from José Luis Moreno and Vicente Herrera. Perhaps I am being over-critical. The series of derechazos were templados, with long chest pases, and the trincherillas with which he ended his series of naturales were overflowing with torería. This was a two-ear bull, and it was a shame that Garrido failed to take full advantage of its strength and nobility. It was a tragedy when he muffed the kill with a pinchazo in the right place, a metisaca in the ribs, and three further pinchazos as the joy went out of his meeting with a great bull.

It is doubtful that anyone could have drawn toreo out of the sixth. It was weak, halt and hooked desperately with each horn. One low pic and a light one led on to a tercio de banderillas done on the doorstep of death. The few derechazos Garrido managed were accompanied with accurate hooks, and the naturales were the same. Failure is an essential feature of the fiesta, even failure after honest effort. Garrido suffered it. He ended with an estocada of brilliant execution.

Las Corridas Generales de Bilbao 2024 (II)

Jock Richardson

The spat at Linares

Las Corridas Generales de Bilbao 2024 (I)