“Although many say there’s a mob in this plaza, bullfighting is encapsulated here,” said Andrés Roca Rey during his second triumphal afternoon at this year’s Feria de San Fermin, before going on to make the point that tauromaquia is not, politically, of the Left or Right.

But I, for one, am not a fan of this feria. I do not like the fact that many spectators go to the bullring to make spectacles of themselves rather than to give due credit to the goings-on in the arena itself. Nor do I like the practice of alternating the presidencia between representatives of the city’s various political parties, all of them, no doubt, keen to attract future votes, which makes the award of apendices more generous than they should be. While it is good to see a bullring filled with spectators day after day, the streamed shots of the seemingly age-segregated tendidos (the youngsters partying in the sun: the old-timers sitting in the shade) stir in me a mix of sadness and horror. At least the feria’s bulls are serious animals, although they sometimes stray into the Madrid fiefdom of fuera de tipo monsters.

I visited the feria just once, in 1992, when César Rincón emerged as the feria triunfador. I will always remember the sight of César citing his Marqués de Domecq bull from a distance, the animal charging towards him and César standing his ground and deftly caping the bull past and around his body. It was a stunning performance, all the more so because you knew this was a matador dominating both his bull and the entire plaza, toreando as he knew how and at his very best.

Instead of matadors imposing themselves on the plaza, as happened then, all too often I find Pamplona imposes itself on the matadors, as they depart from their customary toreo and resort to spectacle and crowd-pleasing manoeuvres instead in their efforts to triumph.

Of course, some toreros’ natural approaches to toreo lend themselves to Pamplona’s bullring; this year, the against-the-odds toreo and estoconazo of Rafaelillo (the taurinos say that a single successful swordthrust is sufficient to gain an ear at Pamplona) and the arrogance, banderillas and regular geeing up the crowd of Jesús Enrique Colombo come to mind. But, in this blog, I want to pay homage to those matadors who succeeded in Pamplona this year without departing from their individual styles.

The first to succeed in this year’s San Fermin simply by doing his own, excellent, thing was Emilio de Justo with a bull of Toros de Cortés, ‘Campanilla’, later awarded the prize for best bull of the feria. Emilio produced a faena of classic toreo, executed in one area of the ring, without a single alarde towards the peñas, before killing with a fine estocada to claim the animal’s two ears.

The following afternoon, with a good string of Fuente Ymbro bulls later considered the best of the feria, Miguel Ángel Perera and Tomás Rufo remained true to themselves in winning one and two ears respectively (Perera would most likely have cut another but for his swordwork on his first bull). In Perera’s case, this involved overcoming the challenges posed by two none-too-easy bulls, making the most of the qualities they did possess through his experience and toreo. Rufo drew the best bull of the corrida and, once his opening sequence of pases de rodillas was completed, used his wrists and muleta to pass it with enormous temple, always with a curving trajectory.

Two days later, in a corrida that featured another good string of Jandilla bulls, Pablo Aguado produced a lovely faena of toreo sevillano that was another exhibition of temple, with wonderful naturales, and everything conducted with Pablo’s singular naturalidad.

The next afternoon, facing bulls of José Escolar, Juan de Castilla engaged in two fine faenas, both begun sin probaturas and inclined towards classic toreo, the Colombian staking a strong claim to becoming a regular participant in Europe’s corridas de toros duros.

None of the above is intended to take anything away from the two strong showings by Andrés Roca Rey, the triunfador de la feria with two exits on shoulders. To my mind, the Peruvian’s toreo, with its frequent pases de espalda and gestures towards the spectators, is another that falls into the category of pamplonista. He benefitted from facing both the Fuente Ymbro and Jandilla bulls, and, in particular, his two performances with the latter, with their greetings a portagayola, varied capework and faenas that were both dominating and more aesthetically pleasing than usual, merited the description of “una tarde de figura del toreo”.

Being true to yourself in Pamplona

Santander, July 20: Adverse conditions

A people’s fiesta that ignores the people