The only matador to create a similar level of impact to Borja Jiménez in 2024 was Fernando Adrián, who cut 44 ears and a tail from 20 appearances (16th in the escalafón), leaving the plaza on shoulders in all but four of his corridas. In looking at that impact, however, the comparatively restricted appearances of the 32-year-old madrileño need to be taken into account. Managed by Maximino Pérez, the empresa of Cuenca and Illescas, Adrián’s temporada was equally divided between 2nd and 3rd class rings, with 18 and 17 appearances respectively, and featured just nine afternoons in 1st class plazas. Amongst those nine appearances, on May 20 he cut two ears in Nîmes; on June 9, he achieved his third consecutive exit through Madrid’s Puerta Grande; and on July 12, he was awarded three ears at Bayonne. Elsewhere, notable triumphs occurred at Castellón, Teruel, Santander, Almeria, Cuenca, Palencia (an indulto included) and Albacete. Still out of favour with many leading empresas, where he was put on Adrián nevertheless performed strongly, with varied toreo and a willingness to take risks, and he continues to make a case for being a regular participant on the main feria circuit, part of the taurine Establishment. It remains to be seen whether his relatively unsuccessful Madrid mano a mano with Borja Jiménez towards the end of the season will have a negative impact on his 2025 temporada: hopefully not.

Andrés Roca Rey headed the escalafón for the fourth year in succession, winning 128 ears and two tails from 69 appearances, 11 more corridas than in 2023. However, the Peruvian had a less successful temporada than the previous season, did not always fill the plazas, and encountered more opposition amongst the spectators than previously, especially in Madrid. He was pretty consistent - Roca Rey’s biggest triumphs occurred at Valencia, Pozoblanco and Arenas de San Pedro in March; Sevilla (one of his three feria appearances netting him a Puerta del Príncipe exit), Zaragoza and Mérida in April; Jerez, Córdoba and Toledo in May; Sanlúcar, Aranjuez, Marbella and Algeciras in June; Burgos, Estepona, Pamplona, La Linea, Roquetas de Mar and Tudela in July; Huelva, El Puerto de Santa María, Huesca, Béziers, Almería, Cuenca and San Sebastián de los Reyes in August; Bayonne, Palencia, Melilla, Villena, Santoña, Murcia and Salamanca in September; and Úbeda in October. The opposition occurred in the more important plazas. His gesture facing victorinos in Sevilla was under-appreciated; the president withheld a second ear demanded by the spectators in Bilbao; and his Madrid afternoons showed the pressures figuras in the capital must bear and the Peruvian’s strange responses to them. On his first San Isidro afternoon, from being on the point of a big success with his opening bull, Andrés bizarrely hesitated to descabellar, hearing two avisos instead, and then received three avisos on his second animal, the matador leaving the plaza to whistles. His linear toreo during the Corrida de la Cultura failed to impress. Things came to a head in the Feria de Otoño, when, in a faena de cara o cruz conducted whilst Tendido 7 and other spectators voiced criticisms towards him, Roca Rey was twice caught by his Fuente Ymbro bull - an ear was awarded following a pinchazo, estocada and two avisos, the matador leaving for the infirmary, where a cornada grave with two trajectories in his right leg was treated. That the Peruvian was not entirely happy with his temporada is possibly revealed by the subsequent decision to part company with his manager, Roberto Domínguez, and to take on his own brother in that role instead.

Daniel Luque never got his hoped-for afternoon alongside Roca Rey and is another to change his management arrangements at the season’s end, in his case from Juan Bautista to Luis Manuel Lozano. Although there were a number of successes - at Sevilla (including a Puerta del Príncipe afternoon), Ávila, Istres, Lunel, both his Azpeitia appearances, El Puerto de Santa María, Íscar, San Roque, Dax (twice), Gijón, Ciudad Real, Palencia, Calahorra, Aranjuez, Albacete, Nîmes (a La Quinta encerrona) and a superb afternoon in Zaragoza’s Feria del Pilar - he didn’t achieve the consistency of his Peruvian rival and also lost out to Borja Jiménez in a mano a mano corrida at Bilbao. The sevillano had a sizable increase in corridas this year - up 20 from last year to 52 (leaving him third in the escalafón) - and cut a total of 87 ears and a tail, but is still looking for that elusive Madrid breakthrough plus opportunities to torear on the same carteles as Andrés Roca Rey.

Despite a decrease in his corrida numbers from 51 in 2023 to 40 this year (leaving him 7th in the escalafón), Emilio de Justo made a strong case for consideration as one of today’s top toreros as the season progressed. His European temporada got off to a good start with triumphs at Navalmoral de la Mata, Valencia, Almendralejo (an indulto included), Arenas de San Pedro and Don Benito, and he cut three ears over two corridas in Sevilla’s Feria de Abril. In May, he achieved the first of two 2024 triumphs at Valladolid, but then San Isidro (two appearances) and Nîmes came and went, although Santisteban del Puerto brought a second indulto. The latter half of the temporada was stronger, with triumphs at Badajoz, Burgos (a third indulto), Pamplona, Roquetas de Mar, Socuéllamos, Herrera del Duque, Huesca, Málaga, Guijuelo, Cuenca, Valladolid (five ears from a victorino encerrona), Albacete, Fregenal de la Sierra, Abarán, Jaén and Alba de Tormes. His Feria de Otoño appearance in Madrid, a mano a mano with Miguel Ángel Perera, again with victorinos, only resulted in an ear but drew high praise.

Independently managed, Miguel Ángel Perera, begins every temporada with a virtually empty engagement book, but alway seems to come through to end up as one of the major triunfadores of the season. 2024 was no exception, his Puerta del Príncipe afternoon in Sevilla after 20 years of seeking such success being the highlight. Finishing 10th in the escalafón with 46 ears cut from 34 corridas, the extremeño’s other best afternoons came at Granada, León, Badajoz, Manzanares, Berja, Dax, San Sebastión (where he won an ear from his second bull despite being injured by his first), Palencia, San Sebastián de los Reyes, Cortegana, Guadalajara, Salamanca, and Villafranca de los Barros. His Feria de Otoño mano a mano victorinada with Emilio de Justo yielded just one ear, but some critics reckoned he gave the finest naturales seen in Madrid all year.

Without El Juli as a stablemate, Tomás Rufo suffered a decline in the number of corridas, from 31 in 2023 to 20 this year, leaving him 18th in the escalafón, although his toreo remained as inspiring as ever. His toreo is focused on curving the bull around his body and he is also a strong killer. In 2024, his main successes came at Castellón, Navalmoral de la Mata, Talavera de la Reina (twice, including a September encerrona that yielded eight ears and a tail, a bull from El Juli’s ganadería of El Freixo being indultado), Nìmes (an exit through the Consuls’ Gate after winning three ears), Toledo, Alicante, Pamplona, Santander, Pontevedra, El Burgo de Osma, Tomelloso and Zaragoza. His underemployment this season has led him to part company with the Lozano family, who have backed him since his Madrid breakthrough as a novillero. Hopefully, his new management arrangements with Víctor Zabala de la Serna, gerente of the bullrings of Madrid and Valencia, will see him appear more often in 2025; he remains the most accomplished torero of his generation and has stated his aims for next year are to “appear in all the ferias” and also to take on bulls of Victorino Martín for the first time.

In 2024, the third year of his comeback, Alejandro Talavante showed increasing signs of his ability to produce toreo that brings the crowds to their feet. Runner-up to Andrés Roca Rey in the escalafón with a tally of 90 ears and three tails from 68 corridas, Alejandro began the season well with triumphs at Olivenza and Arles; cut an ear in Sevilla; tasted more success at Mérida (the first of two triumphs there) and Móstoles in April; won single ears from the first two of his four San Isidro corridas in Madrid; went out on shoulders at the two Jerezs - de la Frontera and de los Caballeros; and had other strong afternoons at Cáceres, Marbella and Plasencia before a mid-season bache that was resolved with a string of triumphs at Lunel, El Puerto de Santa María, Íscar, Marbella, Pontevedra and Herrera del Duque. Performance dropped off again in late August and September, his best afternoons coming at Almería, Tomelloso, Villanueva de Arzobispo (an indulto), Salamanca, Logroño and Zafra, although the highlight was a Puerta del Príncipe afternoon at Sevilla’s Feria de San Miguel. His European temporada ended at Torrejón de Ardoz, where he cut four ears.

Finally, Sebastián Castella, although failing to reach his heights of 2023, nevertheless continued to show he is amongst the top matadores de toros. He fought the same number of corridas as last year and cut two more ears, achieving a total of 66 ears and a tail and finishing fourth in the escalafón. This year, his Sevilla and Madrid appearances brought no awards, but the first third of the temporada did see triumphs at Navalmoral de la Mata, Arles, Trujillo, Jerez de la Frontera and Nîmes (a Consuls’ Gate exit). June and July were busy, but relatively quiet apart from successful afternoons at Estepona and Tudela, while high summer saw strong performances at Palma de Mallorca, Almagro, Linares, San Sebastián de los Reyes, Arles again, Navalcarnero and Zafra before Sebastián concluded his season with exits on shoulders at Las Rozas and Zaragoza.

The current Establishment (2024 Season Review Pt2)

Regulation changes - but in whose favour?

Borja’s Year (2024 Season Review Pt1)