Reports from a rain-affected Las Fallas
Pieter Hildering
(Image by Mateo)
In March 1985, an interesting corrida in Valencia caught my attention. Advertised as a ‘Corrida de Arte’ its line up read: Antonio Chenel Antoñete, Curro Romero, Rafael de Paula, Pepe Luis Vázquez and Curro Vázquez, with local matador Luciano Núñez complementing the group. It was a unique opportunity – I thought – to see these masters together, and, although I had been coming to Valencia’s summer corridas since July 1981, I had never before visited the town in March. And what a joy it turned out to be. Not only did I see the artists, I also saw other old and new masters at work and a bonus novillada with the outstanding Chicuelo de Albacete and Carmelo García Carmelo! (Luciano Núñez won the only ear of the evening, from a bull he dedicated to Antoñete.)
Las Fallas of Valencia was a feria worth repeating.
March 13, 2025
Two hundred and forty taurine events later, I entered the – by now – familiar plaza de toros this year for a novillada picada with Iker Fernández Aliagas El Mene, Javier Zulueta Muñoz and Simon Andréu, from Chiva (Val) of Ponce fame and one of the villages that suffered greatly in last October’s floods. It was Andréu’s second novillada since he won the 2023 ‘international certamen for taurine schools’ in La Malagueta, but he had not managed to turn his triumph to his advantage. The novillos came from Fuente Ymbro. They looked good in the sorteo, muscular and well armed, and one clearly stood out - a novillo-toro in weight and presence and branded with ‘47’.
All week, the weather had been bad and a steady drizzle fell from a dark sky, only to clear up half an hour before the start of the novillada. When the clouds made way for a watery sun, the first novillo was let out of his enclosure. HIs name was ‘Vinazo’ and whether the public was as happy to see him or the sun, it applauded his arrival. He responded well to the offered capote that welcomed him and was applauded even more. The picador only pic-ed him slightly, after which the novillo went to meet El Mene. Noble ‘Vinazo’ charged the muleta well, which allowed the boy a varied faena on both horns. When the sword slid in, it got the novillero the first ear of the afternoon and post mortem applause for the bull.
El Mene in a natural on his way to the puerta grande (image by Mateo)
The second novillo had far less presence. He received one pic, wasn’t as concentrated as his brother before him and almost stopped cooperating during the faena. His nobleza got the better of him and Zulueta managed to pull out a decent set of muletazos before ‘Primoroso’ decided he had enough.
Simon Andréu’s first novillo shall remain anonymous as I forgot to write down his name. Basically there is not much more to be said about this bull, only that the picador (who was also Andréu’s dad) almost killed it and the novillero bungled his attempt to place banderillas. Three passes into the faena, our nameless novillo decided it had had enough and, aided by the novillero’s muleta, took up his querencia. The clouds started to gather.
“Jurista!” I said to my lawyer-neighbour to draw his attention to the name of the fourth novillo. He wasn’t too impressed. The bull dove into the capote front feet first, but redeemed himself once the faena got under way. El Mene cited the animal from quite a distance in the first passes, constructing interesting and much applauded series. The faena was crowned by a great estocada and a second ear which was the key to the Puerta Grande for the young novillero.
By now, the sky had opened up and it was difficult to watch the fifth novillo because of the many umbrellas that were blocking my view, but I could just about make out that my favourite had come into the arena. At first it looked as if he was too heavy for his years, but, under a steady downpour, he moved to Zulueta’s instructions in a decent faena and was killed with a good estocada. The people who had remained in their seats petitioned for a reward but the presidenta took no notice.
With the rain producing puddles everywhere, the floor had become too dangerous to continue. The very few who braved the elements, saw Simon Andréu walk over to the toril and kneel down in the mud to receive the bull. I have no idea what happened next… Only that Zulueta will take his alternativa in Sevilla during the Feria de San Miguel, with Morante and Roca Rey. El Mene was carried out of the arena on shoulders while we went home to worry about the weather and tomorrow’s corrida.
March 14
It had rained all night and when I woke up, the downpour had become a steady drizzle. Even so, me and my trusty umbrella walked over to the plaza to attend the sorteo. Today would give us bulls from El Parralejo, big bulls with amazing horns for Miguel Ángel Perera, Paco Ureña and one of last season’s taurine surprises, 23-year-old madrileño Fernando Adrián.
I was looking forward to seeing Ureña and still remembered his exceptional performance some years ago in this very plaza. He cut an ear after an Algarra bull got hold of him and tore his suit to threads. I always thought that what they said about Belmonte, “You better go and see him or you might never see him again”, also applied to Ureña. With his total entrega and agonizingly slow naturales close to the bull, he was an easy target. Compared to Ureña, Miguel Ángel Perera’s toreo hardly ever moved me and I had only seen Fernando Adrián once, in July last year, I thought. Checking my archive, it turned out I first saw him as an invisible novillero 13 years earlier with – oh irony – novillos from El Parralejo.
The sorteo over, I stepped into the callejón to take a look at the ring after yesterday’s rain. The pools of water were still there, the sand was still soaked and nobody seemed to make any effort to clean things up.
Fifteen minutes before the start of the corrida, I entered my tendido. Ten minutes later, the three matadors and their entourage came out and inspected the floor. It did not sound promising when a voice announced a delay as they needed more time to clean up. A little blue tractor went round and round, pulling some heavy brushes to disperse the water, and left. It returned with bags of sand and men pushing wheelbarrows who called out to the areneros to spread the content which they – visibly reluctant – did. It was a pathetic show of incompetence. The corrida was suspended anyway.
March 15
The sun is out! The weather gods have taken pity on us. I took advantage of the weather to watch 20 recortadores dodge big, five-year-old bulls from an undisclosed ganadería. And, although I am not a great fan of the festejos populares, that morning in the sun I saw the most beautiful bull: a rare pure white ensabanado which not only looked great, it charged as well! I left after an hour of watching the boys dodge, dive and fly over the bulls. But it was a great start to the day, knowing that six fine-looking bulls from Victoriano del Río were drawn for the alternativa of 22-year-old Alejandro Chicharro and his padrino Alejandro Talavante and testigo Andrés Roca Rey.
It didn’t look as if the bull was going to be an easy opponent for the neophyte who welcomed him with a series of verónicas to which the animal hardly reacted. Two pics later and Talavante’s wishes of good luck, Chicharro dedicated the death of his first bull to his parents.
Like so many young Roca Rey supporters, he too started his faena by passing the bull on his knees and passing him behind his back to which he was much applauded and loudly olé’d. Back on his feet, his right-hand passes were followed by some naturales to which the noble ‘Albardero’ reacted wonderfully. After an assortment of manoletinas, a half-sword and a descabello, Chicharro – who, as a novillero opened the Great Gate of Las Ventas – pocketed his first ear as a matador de toros.
His handling of the last bull showed he was well prepared for this new phase in his career. After receiving it on his knees in front of the toril gate and a set of kneeling and back deflecting passes, he displayed a good knowledge of bulls. Citing his rival from a distance, catching him in his muleta and slowly turning him around, he gave us a spectacular faena. Unfortunately, a couple of pinchazos were followed by the descabello sword which lost him the chance to leave the arena on shoulders.
Talavante’s first bull came out and was difficult to control. He kept looking for the exit and charged at everything that moved. When he finally calmed down, he only took one slight pic. The alternativa ceremony was reversed, no doubt Chicharro thanking his patrons for their good wishes. The first passes of Talavante’s muleta set the tone for the faena that followed. He is a clever torero who uses his arm instead of his wrist to control his bulls. He never confronts them or links his passes, he uses the outside tip of the red flannel. And instead of turning them, he sends them outwards, pass after pass, and gets away with it. In my opinion, he is the least aesthetically pleasing torero I have ever seen.
Nothing remarkable happened to either Talavante or his second bull. My notes read: “Nothing interesting, nothing exciting or worth talking about.” A pinchazo and an estocada to the rear brought the animal to his knees. The public stayed silent after both of the extremeño’s faenas.
The highlight of the evening started with a nice set of verónicas to which the bull reacted well and a tercio de varas in which he only took one good pic but cringed at the second. Once the banderillas were placed, Roca Rey walked out to centre stage and summoned the animal. A display of taurine pleasure followed in which the matador wasn’t the only protagonist. It would have been a one-sided dance if hadn’t been for the remarkable bull. I often said I didn’t like Roca Rey. I didn’t like the noise of his faenas or his crowd-pleasing tricks. But it looks as if he has gotten rid of most of the frills and, when he gets a generous bull like this one, he brings his faena down to the essentials. And I must say he knows his essentials! When the faena neared its end, several white handkerchiefs called for an indulto. But the bull was killed with a fine estocada and, as a result of a thundering ovation, both ears were handed to the matador. The bull slowly toured the ring in a lap of honour. Remember his name: ‘Frenoso’.
Derechazo to ‘Frenoso’ from Andrés Roca Rey (image Mateo)
Unfortunately, Roca Rey’s second bull didn’t live up to ‘Frenoso’’s qualities. He hardly charged the muleta and moved into a rigid querencia several times. An aviso, a sword in the ribs and a descabello took care of him. Meanwhile, several men got ready to carry the Peruvian out and into the streets where brass bands played and men and women in colourful costumes finally celebrated Las Fallas.
March 16
Sunday saw a double bill. In the morning sun, Portuguese rejoneadors Rui Fernandes (flamboyantly dressed as an extra in a 19th century opera), Diego Ventura and Frenchwoman Lea Vicens confronted bulls from Fermín Bohórquez. Only Ventura cut an ear.
By 5 pm, the weather had changed. The black clouds were back and, just to make sure they wouldn’t be as unprepared as they had been before, management had ordered the little blue tractor back onto the sand. Fifteen minutes later, the bullring was cleared. Two Parralejo bulls and four Jandilla/Vegahermosas were ready for José María Manzanares, Roca Rey and Tomás Rufo.
Manzanares seems to be more sure of his toreo. Although he sometimes overestimates himself, he seems to have become a torero who can read a toro’s mind from the moment the animal jumps into the ring. He met his first bull with a series of sweeping verónicas and saw his animal undergo two well-placed pics. Manzanares started his faena with a series of right-hand passes, but the bull made it quite clear that he wouldn’t cooperate on that side. His left horn had little to offer either, but the alicantino forced him to charge the muleta. The animal kept rejecting the lure, and man and beast circled the arena. However, an excellent estocada brought the bull down and gave the torero an ear.
His fourth bull had no intention of using his left horn either, so the faena only produced a string of isolated derechazos. Nothing remarkable. A half sword got him down and José Maria came out to salute the crowd. He would be back on Tuesday.
The ring was sold out, stands were packed and expectations were high when Roca Rey stepped out for his first and much-celebrated verónicas to a well-armed adversary. The bull gave his all in the first encounter with the picador and, although the spear bounced off his back, he almost overturned horse and rider at the second charge. A quite by Tomas Rufo raised hopes for the faena. It didn’t happen. The bull hesitated and only reacted to Roca Rey’s muleta with the left horn. The short faena ended with a low thrust sword and a notable silence for the matador.
Things changed remarkably when ‘Betico’ came into the ring, a red-brown bull from El Parralejo (basically, a Jandilla subsidiary). The bull resisted two hard pics and Roca Rey performed a quite of characteristic chicuelinas. I can’t remember if his faena started with the (also) typical deflections but I do remember the matador placing the bull at a distance for an accurate series of both right- and left-hand muletazos. And each set gave the bull enough time to recharge. A shatteringly precise sword – which was later proclaimed the estocada of the feria – rightly awarded Roca Rey an ear and ended his visit to Valencia’s plaza de toros on the calle Játiva as the triunfador de la feria.
Which left us with Tomás Rufo. (There’s also a Thomas Dufau... but he’s French). To refresh my memory, I had only seen him twice in the last two years. He took his alternativa in 2021, earning four ears form Gracigrande bulls, and confirmed a year later with the same result, leaving by the glorious gate. Tomás Rufo’s star was rising at an incredible speed!
After an appropriate preparation by his cuadrilla, the young matador started his faena on his knees (which seems to be everyone’s favourite start to a faena nowadays). To our surprise, the bull was a virtuous and noble opponent without a bad bone in his body. He allowed his matador to pull out every stop and Rufo took advantage of his bull’s endless generosity. It resulted in a fine faena, completed with an estocada that, although it needed a descabello, got the just reward! And it didn’t stop there. A set of kneeling verónicas in front of the gate of fear (we really should talk about the sense of this ludicrous trend) and a set of badly-placed pics by a picador who had to rectify himself several times, was followed by a tercio de banderillas led by the formidable Fernando Sánchez. Rufo got ready for his second performance in Valencia. The ridiculously-named ‘Repipi’ was a toro de lidia of noble blood that gave the matador the opportunity to exhibit every muletazo in the book. It resulted in a great faena of left- and right-hand passes, redondos, pechos and manoletinas. The last set, performed at close range, ended in a Lagartijera (a media estocada). It was enough to bring the bull to his knees and earned Tomás Rufo another ear and an exit on the shoulders of his happy fans.
March 17
Monday brought bulls from Juan Pedro Domecq for Sebastian Castella, Daniel Luque and Emilio de Justo. Three minutes before starting time, the plaza registered half full.
After kneeling down in front of the gate of fear and seeing his first bull rush past, Castella continued with a set of verónicas on foot. His picador missed his target twice and, although the banderilleros did a decent job, only one pass of the Frenchman’s faena was applauded. His sword hadn’t improved much (Castella has never been an accurate estoqueador) and the bull was dragged into oblivion by a single horse. A much more interesting Castella was seen during the faena with his second bull. From meticulously measured passes to muletazos close to the bull, he built up a carefully contructed faena. Unluckily, his sword failed him again: a media estocada and a descabello ended his visit to the Valencian bullring.
Daniel Luque welcomed his first toro with some verónicas before the usual stabbing and skewering by his picador almost killed the animal. One would expect a bull to withdraw after such a beating, but the matador noticed some remaining instinct for a surprising faena which had some long passes on each horn. It ended in a set of his curious right-handed naturales, and an efficient estocada won him the first ear of the evening.
As soon as his second bull came in, it was protested for being lame. It wasn’t, and Luque knelt down on the sand for some welcoming verónicas. Once against the horse, the animal gave a fine display of toro bravo, pushed against the peto and bravely endured the punishment of the puya. Expectations were high when Luque took his muleta for the final tercio. It wasn’t to be, in spite of the torero throwing his sword to the sand again and pushing out his chest, ‘Paparrucho’ had no more to offer. The kill was a bad (as our Spanish friends say) estocada trasera y tendida followed by multiple descabellos. It resulted in silence for Daniel Luque. But, please tell me, why does Luque throw down his sword to perform naturales with his right hand when it is so terribly irritating?
Daniel Luque with the ear from his first bull (image by Mateo)
Emilio de Justo, from Cáceres and the darling of Las Ventas (he has left Madrid’s plaza on shoulders three times so far), knelt down and got ready for ‘Cognac’. But the verónicas went wrong when he lost control of his capote and had to run after the bull to correct his failure. He knelt down again, and at last could fling the cape over his head. The bull received a slight pic. The well-determined distance between bull and man resulted in a series of fine muletazos by de Justo - nothing spectacular, but it was a well-meant effort to recover his lacklustre performance. The public by now had lost interest and not even the estocada got their hands together.
The last bull of the day was welcomed with chicuelinas and was led to the horse with more chicuelinas. He was badly pic-ed, stumbled and was given the green handkerchief. His replacement was a travesty of a bull, a dusty, thin little morillo-less animal. The public immediately reacted, but the president saw no reason to replace him. And here is the thing. He might have looked like a mangy cow, but in his mind little ‘Melopea’ was a toro de lidia who could charge the muleta like the best of them. And he was! ‘Melopea’ became the centre of a varied faena on both horns and I’m sure that, if de Justo had handled his sword better, he would not have left the ring in shame.
March 18
The following morning, it was announced that, because of the sorry state of the arena due to more rain, the corrida was suspended. No Talavante, no Tomás Rufo (substituting for an injured Manzanares), and, especially unfortunate, no Juan Ortega.
The suspension gave me the opportunity to raise the following question (to no-one in particular): Why do they perform a larga cambiada a porta gayola when, in most cases, this pass adds nothing relevant to a corrida and the bull completely ignores the swirling capote or almost overruns the torero sitting on the sand ? The only way to save face is for the matador to chase after the animal and kneel on the floor for another – yet less derring-do – spin of his cape.. In my view, it is the most useless suerte of all. It is also the most dangerous. Go and ask Pepe Luis Vargas, who was horribly gored in the right leg in 1987 in Sevilla while attempting a lance a porta gayola. The horns shattered the bone and ruptured the most important veins in his leg. Go ask the people who were in the Maestranza that afternoon and saw a fountain of blood erupting from his thigh. Go ask Espartaco, who, the next day and in solidarity with Vargas, performed the same suerte and almost had his head torn off. So, you tell me?
March 19
El Día de San José and the most important day of Las Fallas. This morning, six typically grey and seriously-armed Santa Coloma/Buendia bulls were separated and placed in their stalls - six out of the eight that had been brought to Valencia (the life of one of the two that hadn’t been selected in Valencia was spared in Castellón a week later). The line-up was surprising: a mano a mano between Román Collado Gouinguenet (simply called Román) and Borja Jiménez, together with a surprise visit of HM Felipe VI, King of Spain. All six bulls were applauded when they left the toril.
In the past, March 19 was always reserved for the best bullfighters the city had to offer. But there are hardly any Valencian bullfighters left. The careers of most of its promising novilleros were cut short by the pandemic. One member of this lost generation, Jordi Pérez El Niño de las Monjas took his alternativa last year, but has yet to obtain a contract. The only local matador whose career hadn’t suffered was Román, who, in the 11 years since his alternativa, did everything to prove he was the rightful heir to Ponce’s crown. Although last season he appeared in 17 corridas and in July – in this same arena – spared the life of Santi Domecq’s ‘Escondido’, he had not yet been very convincing. He is not a bad torero, he’s just not a very exciting torero. Román’s toreo seemed to depend on coincidences, and the surprised look on his face every time he realizes he’s pulled it off says it all. Even today was built on chance.
A handful of lukewarm verónicas met the first grey bull, which took two slight pics. After dedicating the bull’s death to the young monarch, Román’s faena started well. He gave his opponent ample time to recover after every series of muletazos. A bad sword in the ribs killed the animal.
Borja Jiménez took his first bull out to the centre of the ring with interesting pases de castigo, but lost himself in bad muletazos that moved the bull back to the side of the ring. It was here the horns got hold of the matador. They lifted him up and shook him about like a rag doll before throwing him back on the sand. The medical staff quickly left their burladero while Román took care of the bull.
The mano a mano had become a solitary affair.
‘Ramonero’ was another dark grey bull with typically upturned horns. It was badly pic-ed but pushed against the horse with some force. Román confronted him and, having learned from his encounter with his first bull, gave him time to recover and recharge between series of derechazos and naturales. The trumpet sounded a warning as the bull surrendered to the sword.
The fourth bull also charged the horse from a distance and was well pic-ed. Although the La Quinta bulls were a delight and could perhaps have been met with a bit more imagination, Román kept to the same scenario. The admirable bravo, guapo and noble ‘Pegajoso’ endured two heavy pics and adequately countered the challenge of the matador’s left and right hands. Despite a bad sword, there were enough white handkerchiefs to secure Román his first ear.
‘Famoso’ and Francisco Pons Puchano engaged in a memorable tercio de varas (image from Mateo)
The fantastic ‘Famoso’ weighed 555 kilos and was the fifth bull to appear. His entry got a substantial ovation. But it was picador Francisco Pons Puchano who brought out his soul in a classic, but so rarely seen, true tercio de varas - a high-quality confrontation between a picador, his horse and a genuine toro bravo which gladly answered the call and charged strongly from well beyond the ring’s centre. Twice! Up in the stands, the ever-popular El Soro rose from his wheelchair, lifted his trumpet and serenaded both bull and man. ‘Famoso’’s response to the muleta was a delight, though death by a clumsy sword in the lungs was an insult to his life. The dead bull was given a blue handkerchief and the people stood up to applaud him as he slowly circled the ring en arrastre. He had been the super bull we had been waiting for all week, the toro bravo who made us forget the wind, the mist and the rain that had dampened the feria. Román took his lap of honour holding up the ear. Next to him walked Puchano, the picador who had made the bull’s qualities visible.
The last bull of the feria was everything his brother wasn’t, the ‘garbanzo negro’ of the lot that overturned a horse, dangerously wounding it in the neck; that ran and charged at everything that moved; and took up the classical querencia by the toril door. It didn’t matter. We still savoured the sweet taste of the incredible ‘Famoso’.
Román left through the Puerta Grande, having accomplished what no-one had thought possible.
Spring was welcomed with a loud bang. With only one novillada left on the calendar, events in Valencia’s plaza de toros had come to a virtual standstill for a year. The novillada would be in May and was to be the comeback of Alberto Donaire, the novillero who was horrendously injured by a Rocío de la Cámara novillo in October last year. The ticket is part of my abono.