Looking Back: 4 Men, 1 Week, Madrid Autumn 2019
Sergio Serrano
Ten years since his alternativa and his career is hanging by a thread. In 2017, the year after his Madrid confirmación, he had no contracts at all. The following year, he made just one appearance in his home feria of Albacete, winning an ear from a miura. A week before today, once again in the Albacete feria, he was said to have produced the faena of his life with a torrestrella, but then lost trophies with the sword. Today’s cartel - a desafío of bulls of Saltillo and Araúz de Robles in Las Ventas - is only his second appearance of the temporada.
He walks across the ring to meet his first bull a portagayola. After the larga cambiada de rodillas, Serrano throwing himself sideways to avoid a collision with the 582-kilo grey mass rushing towards him, a couple of verónicas is all he can manage to achieve. Like today’s other preceding saltillo, this is a tricky manso. It cuts in on its left horn and, all too soon, peón Caco Ramos is thrown up into the air and taken to the infirmary with a 20-centimetre cornada grave in his right leg. Come the faena, Sergio puts his faith in standing still, citing and then holding the muleta low to take the bull past him. It works on the right horn, winning applause, but the beast remains impossible on the left. As the faena goes on, so the matador resorts to old-style toreo, flapping the cloth to tire the animal’s neck and living on his reflexes. A pinchazo and low estocada lead on to pitos for the bull and an appreciative vuelta for its killer.
The 519-kilo Araúz de Robles bull he takes next should be easier. Again, he meets it a portagayola, follows that with respectable verónicas, even chicuelinas, then spoils the sequence by mistakenly dropping to his knees for an attempt at a closing media verónica that ends with him lying on the sand as the bull thunders past. The animal, another manso, proves problematic en varas, a peón having to take over from Serrano to position it in the chute from where it can charge in to the picador.
Serrano dedicates the faena to the tendidos, but there’s no hope of success. The bull’s charge has become very uncertain and, before long, Sergio’s efforts are reduced to a faena de aliño. Then the bull becomes distracted when he tries to set it up for the kill. A pinchazo is followed by an estocada in the shoulder and another pinchazo before the animal sits for the puntilla. It is taken out to pitos. Serrano heads back to the barrera, his head raised to the sky in exasperation, his eyes shut, his hopes gone, before being called back out into the arena for an ovation and saludos.
He has given his all and the critics next day say he’s earned a further showing in Madrid. But, for now, the triumph he seeks and needs continues to elude him, and who’s to say whether or when he’ll be invited back?
Tomás Rufo
The 20-year-old from Talavera de la Reina is the least well-known participant in the Feria de Otoño’s novillada, having gained his place by winning the Madrid ring’s summer series of novilladas nocturnas. An alumno of Toledo’s escuela taurina, he began appearing with picadors 15 months ago, but has had relatively few contracts.
Things don’t start well. He gives fast, flapping verónicas to his opening fuenteymbro and a poor quite of further verónicas in which his capote is lifted by the animal’s horns. It’s pleasing that he welcomes competition in quites, coming out to replicate Fernando Plaza’s series of gaoneras, but Plaza’s lances are better than his.
The faena, however, is excellent. Rufo begins calmly with estatuarios, his face down, eyes seemingly on the ground, then moves the cloth to the left hand to sculpture series of slow naturales, turning the bull, followed by equally impressive derechazos, the passes bringing shouts of “Olé!” from the spectators. After he collects the estoque, his half-kneeling doblones generate a similar response. The no-holds-barred estocada hits home and, before long, Tomás is circling Las Ventas with one of the bull’s ears in his hand.
Once someone cuts an ear on their first bull in Madrid, there is always the anticipation of a possible Puerta Grande triumph. With Rufo’s second fuenteymbro novillo, there are more verónicas enganchadas, while the capote is snatched from his hands in the quite, but the walking chicuelinas to the picador are nice and the bull is correctly positioned for the suerte with a revolera. The novillo looks good en varas and a fine tercio de banderillas keeps hopes alive.
Rufo tells Canal Toros to stay away as he dedicates this faena to his fellow talaverano, Florito, the Las Ventas mayoral, the older man pinching the youngster’s cheek before the novillero walks off to face his bull. Tomás knows he’s got an excellent animal and he proceeds to make the most of it, producing superb series of linked passes on each hand. At one point, he makes a mistake trying to sustain a series beyond its limit, losing the cloth as a consequence, but this is a minor blemish in an extraordinary performance. Another committed and successful estocada results in a strong petition for two ears, the president awarding one and receiving a bronca for his miserliness. As Rufo see the handkerchiefs flutter, he loses the composure he’s kept all faena, his face breaking up and the tears starting to flow.
But he grins broadly on the first of two tours of the ring - he’s achieved the first Puerta Grande exit for a novillero in Madrid since Andrés Roca Rey’s in 2015.
Juan Leal
The Frenchman comes to Las Ventas (where his last appearance ended in a goring) with a number of successful performances to his name, the most recent of these earlier in the week at Logroño. In the Rioja capital, he’d won the crowd over with his daring in his opening faena, begun with extended series of passes from on his knees, then getting to his feet and taking the bull from a distance. His swordwork, legs flailing, had cost him an ear. But he’d gained one (it should have been two) from his second bull, staying on his feet this time and bringing off some decent series and one notable tanda of naturales, demonstrating he can torear well, before ending with circulares and another flying estocada. The bulk of the crowd had petitioned for a second oreja and a peón, unable to hide just how pissed off he was with the president, had encouraged his matador to take a second vuelta, with some in the crowd even calling for a third! Another afternoon like this should see a Madrid triumph too.
But it is not to be, for Leal and his entourage haven’t reckoned on the influence of Madrid’s Tendido 7. After a brindis to the crowd, Juan duly gets down on his knees and does his thing in the centre of the ring, starting with a pase cambiado por la espaldd; some spectators are impressed, but a sizable number are not. Then he gets accused of toreando his bull in straight lines, although every time spectators call for him to cross the line of charge, he does so. It seems he can’t win. Two ungainly pinchazos, an aviso, two more pinchazos and six descabellos, interspersed with a second aviso, seal his fate - pitos.
He tries again with his second Puerto de San Lorenzo bull, met with feet-together verónicas and a media. Once more, he dedicates to the tendidos. However, the toreo remains rapid, even his series of linked derechazos are received with whistles, and this is another of today’s bulls lacking in spirit for the lidia. The sword goes in up to the hilt, but it’s placed half-way down the bull’s back. Leal’s afternoon ends in silence and the feeling that he’s going to need to depart from his natural style of toreo if he’s ever to taste Madrid success.
Miguel Ángel Perera
It’s a mano a mano with current Madrid favourite, Paco Ureña. Although he’s currently the active torero with most Madrid Puerta Grande triumphs to his name, Miguel Ángel holds back when Ureña comes out from the callejón and takes saludos after the paseíllo, preferring to keep by the barrera, perhaps conscious that his last triumph here during San Isidro ended in criticism for the president in awarding him two ears.
The bulls today are from Juan Pedro Domecq, Núñez del Cuvillo and Victoriano del Río and every one is whistled within seconds of emerging from the toril. Ureña wins a merited ear from his first bull, but Miguel Ángel’s efforts are met with silence. After an initial faena produced mainly with the left hand, this response is particularly unfair following his work with his second bull, given terrific verónicas with the matador down on one knee; great walking chicuelinas to the picador; and the subject of competition in quites, Perera creating a series of static chicuelinas and a closing larga (Tendido 7 protesting throughout). Perhaps the two toreros should have reined back on the capework, for the bull ends up managing only short charges come the final tercio, Perera nevertheless coping well with it and achieving a fine faena before closing with a pinchazo, estocada, aviso and solo descabello.
His last bull is named Portugués from Núñez del Cuvillo (the ganadería from which Ureña cut his ear). It steps neatly over the rayas as it comes into the ring, stumbles once in the opening tercio and is protested just like its predecessors. There’s no capework of note, while this matador’s preference for his bulls to be lightly picced also provokes some ire. Carrying his muleta, Miguel Ángel walks out into the arena and takes up a position to cite the bull from a distance. Portugués responds, comes charging in, and Perera collects and then keeps it in the muleta, turning and turning it in close, low derechazos. This great sequence is repeated a number of times, and the crowd’s behaviour is transformed into applause, olés, people getting to their feet… There are good muletazos with the left hand too, even a farol, though Miguel Ángel performs mainly with the right. He finishes with close bernadinas. It’s been one of the great Madrid faenas, and, as he lines up with the estoque, planning to kill in the centre of the arena, everyone is wanting a successful swordthrust to end it. Alas, a poor pinchazo is followed by a bajonazo, instantly withdrawn but enough to kill Portugués. Two ears and his eighth Madrid Puerta Grande have been lost, but the crowd still insist on the extremeño taking a vuelta.
At the end of the corrida as Perera leaves Las Ventas to an ovation, you can see from his face that that lost triumph still hurts. But he has re-won the respect of the Madrid public.