This year, Madrid’s Feria de San Isidro follows hard on the heels of Sevilla’s Feria de Abril - just time for some quick reflections on how the latter feria panned out.

Several Spanish taurine commentators criticised Sevilla’s feria as being too willing to award ears. Two main reasons were cited for the spectators’ generosity - the increasing numbers of non-Spaniards and youngsters in la Maestranza’s tendidos and the sheer exhilaration for many of being back in the bullring after two years of Covid privations - but underlying this was also a viewpoint that insufficient notice had been taken of the poor quality of the bulls, both in terms of appearance and performance (something that may become a regular feature of the immediate future - see my earlier blog on ganaderías’ current circumstances, ‘Difficult times - and worse to come?’).

As a foreign aficionado following the feria (apart from its corrida de rejones) through Plaza Toros TV, I had few concerns about most of the ears awarded and felt that the bulls were the typical mainstream and largely disappointing fare that the Feria de Abril regularly serves up. The only encierros I was genuinely enthused by were those of Virgen María/Santa Ana and Santiago Domecq, both fought early in the feria by modestos, and El Parralejo. Juan Pedro Domecq, Hermanos García Jiménez/Olga Jiménez, Torrestrella (unfortunately, in a return after several years’ absence from the plaza) and Miura produced particularly poor strings. No animal was given a posthumous vuelta, although there were a few - ‘Chismoso’, a bull of Santiago Domecq that Alfonso Cadaval was fortunate to draw; ‘Zafia’, a jandilla fought by Manzanares; the victorino ‘Pobrecito’ fought by Antonio Ferrera; and Núñez del Cuvillo’s ‘Comilón’ fought by Andrés Roca Rey - that made important contributions to their faenas.

The three princes

The Feria de Abril produced three exits through the Maestranza’s Puerta del Príncipe (reserved for toreros who have cut three ears or more), none of which were unmerited.

*Tomás Rufo killing on the afternoon of his 2021 alternativa at Valladolid*

The most surprising (in some eyes) was that of young Tomás Rufo on his Sevillian debut as a matador de toros. His May 2 corrida, facing bulls of Victoriano del Río alongside El Juli and Roca Rey, was held in dreadful conditions, the arena becoming increasingly waterlogged as the rain persisted. Having already entered into quites on Roca Rey’s first animal, Tomás dedicated his own first bull to the tendidos and then built a faena mainly around series of linked derechazos con temple before closing with a committed estocada that, 15 seconds later, saw the bull lying dead - sufficient for a drenched crowd to successfully petition for an oreja.

His second lidia - in even worse conditions - was a stronger affair, reminiscent of his performance with his toro de alternativa in Valladolid last September. It opened with a series of exquisitely slow verónicas, Rufo taking the bull towards the centre of the ring. After another dedication to the public, the toledano began his faena with pases por alto before settling into templados and relaxed naturales, going on to perform impressive series of derechazos. Embarked on another straight entry for the kill, Tomás slipped in the mud and was caught by his opponent, being pushed along the ground for several metres, fortunately by the bull’s head rather than one of its horns. Once rescued and recovered, Rufo calmly gave another muletazo or two before delivering a further strong estocada. The two ears that followed were thoroughly deserved and the critics are already beginning to refer to the youngster as an imminent figura.

The first Puerta del Príncipe occurred in the opening week of the feria and featured Daniel Luque, showing the same determination to succeed as he evidenced in Valencia’s Las Fallas. His first El Parralejo bull this afternoon was no easy animal, charging unpredictably, but Luque’s experience, technique and confidence persevered in the encounter despite a tossing that sent the sevillano to the infirmary after killing the animal with an estocada and winning its ear.

Daniel reappeared for the final bull of the day (despite, it was revealed later, suffering two fractured ribs and a chest injury in that cogida) and this time the matador’s domination of his opponent grew stronger, his faena better, as the lidia went on, a final sequence of luquesinas bringing the crowd to its feet. Another solid estocada delivered a deserved two ears and Luque’s departure through the main gate.

The Feria’s other ‘prince’ was El Juli, who displayed mastery in all three of his corridas but excelled on May 4 when he faced his favourite bulls of Domingo Hernández and Garcigrande and achieved his seventh departure through the Puerta del Príncipe.

Unusually for Sevilla, two ears were awarded after the death of the afternoon’s first bull, but it was a just decision. El Juli had first shown his authority in a quite of chicuelinas, then proceeded to torear the bull beautifully in the faena, the Domingo Hernández animal charging well and Julián keeping the cloth low whilst he remained largely vertical in superbly linked derechazos and later in naturales too. His entry with the sword was less to the bull’s side than usual and the two ears were his.

He began his second faena down on one knee with the cloth in his left hand for more linked passes, concluded with a cambio de mano, a trincherilla and a pase del desdén. The passes that followed were again linked well, several of them prolonged to their maximum length. The killing was less good than earlier - a pinchazo and an estocada delivered from the side - but, all in all, the third ear was justified. Taking this afternoon and his other feria appearances into account (he won an ear on the rain-drenched 2 May and performed well with a poor torrestrella on May 7), it was no surprise that El Juli was later announced as the feria triunfador.

Other notable performances

Andrés Roca Rey was denied a Puerta del Príncipe by the president’s refusal to award him an ear from his second Núñez del Cuvillo opponent on May 6 despite a clear majority petition for him to show his handkerchief. To my mind, the regulations should have been followed and the ear awarded, but the president’s earlier decision to grant the Peruvian two ears from his first animal was over the top, bearing in mind the half-sword that ended its lidia.

There was no doubting the bravery that initial faena involved, however; Andrés can truly be said to be commanding terrain that no other matador is currently inhabiting. He ensured both of his bulls were lightly picced, making use of their initial power in their faenas with dramatically close passes and sustained linking. Risky bernadinas closed his work to the first bull, and the swordwork on both animals was strong. An impressed but disgruntled crowd (their wish for an ear perhaps influenced by Roca Rey’s second bull inflicting a cogida at one point) gave the matador two vueltas al ruedo when that third ear was denied.

Morante de la Puebla, triunfador of the 2021 temporada, had no less than four feria appearances and, despite the varying quality of his bulls, showed some of his unique style on each occasion, culminating in a two-ear faena to a Garcigrande sobrero in his final corrida.

A pinchazo probably robbed Morante of an ear from a juanpedro on Easter Sunday, and there was excellent capework and another strong faena to a jandilla on April 29, the band strangely staying silent, the performance ending in a minority petition. The sevillano did, however, win an ear on May 6 after starting his faena in the centre of the ring with a cartucho de pescao (regarded as a homage to Pepe Luis Vázquez), going on to produce some exquisite naturales. The climax came the following day when, after unpromising initial tercios, Morante began the faena to the garcigrande with pases por alto, then proceeded to link passes whilst standing erect, bringing spectators to their feet on a number of occasions. A decent kill contributed to the two ears.

Antonio Ferrera is what we British would term ‘a Marmite torero’ - you either like him, admiring his skills, spontaneity and creativeness in all three tercios or dislike his distortions, innovations and theatricality. This year, in his sole feria appearance - a mano a mano victorinada with Miguel Ángel Perera (Emilio de Justo being unable to take his place in the cartel due to his Madrid injury) - Antonio showed all sides to the Seville public.

When his final victorino, ‘Pobrecito’, entered the ring, Ferrera had already been denied an ear by the president after a majority petition was ignored following the death of his second bull, the matador taking a vuelta instead. Antonio gave the animal some excellent verónicas, then, come the brindis, courted controversy by urging the recipient, the footballer Joaquín, into the arena - something likely to result in fines for both parties. The faena that followed saw Ferrera clearly enjoying passing the bull on either of its horns, series of slow naturales and derechazos sin ayuda being the highlight. The extremeño opted to resurrect citing and walking in from a distance for the kill, succeeding on the second attempt at the cost of a torn taleguilla. The crowd wanted an award of two ears: the president stopped at one.

The rest

Of the remaining toreros de a pie in the feria, José Garrido put on a decent display in the Santiago Domecq corrida, cutting an ear that was far more deserved than the one awarded to Alfonso Cadaval the same afternoon: Joaquín Galdós drew one poor bull and couldn’t cope with the other one. Miguel Ángel Perera performed as competently as one would expect in both his corridas, winning an ear from an El Parralejo bull on the afternoon Daniel Luque’s actuación won all the headlines and unfortunately being gored in the back on his second appearance; his comparative lack of success in the feria, coupled with his absence from San Isidro, points to a low-key season ahead for the extremeño. Diego Urdiales failed to build on his September success in La Maestranza, but nevertheless won awards for his capework. Pablo Aguado showed strongly with the capote on Easter Sunday and with both cape and muleta on May 4, but didn’t have the material for a complete success. Álvaro Lorenzo and Ginés Marín both cut single ears on May 3, Marín’s performance being the more highly regarded of the two. Manzanares’ two afternoons resulted in a single ear each time, the alicantino being generally off the boil with the estoque. Juan Ortega failed to set the tendidos alight. Cayetano’s performance with the only bull that offered him possibilities prompted a minority petition as did Paco Ureña’s on an afternoon of unimpressive Casa Matilla bulls - the latter will be reliant on his San Isidro encerrona to rescue his temporada. Manuel Escribano, in a similar position to Ureña, coped well with a poor string of miuras, the single ear he won probably not being sufficient, however, to lift his contract aspirations. Young Manuel Perera clearly showed the populista path he has chosen as a matador de toros by getting down on his knees at the start of his work with both cape and muleta on both bulls on the day of his alternativa, an afternoon that ended with a minority petition.

Questions answered

Prior to the feria, I posed some questions on this blog that Sevilla could perhaps answer. The answers have been forthcoming, amongst them:

If the prompt response of the Burgos empresa to May 2 is anything to go by, the cartel del año looks like being Juli-Roca Rey-Rufo rather than Morante-Ortega-Aguado.
The feria didn’t provide a local modesto with a breakthrough performance, although Oliva Soto, Ángel Jiménez and Alfonso Cadaval are likely to have boosted their chances of obtaining further contracts this year in Andalucía.
Pablo Aguado looks to be recovered from his knee operation and is back to displaying his trademark naturalidad.
No torero who has fallen out of the main feria circuit constructed a case for his return, although that could change if José Garrido or Álvaro Lorenzo win ears in Madrid as well.
Tomás Rufo’s triumph was as big as any torero, let alone one making his Seville debut, could dream of.
Despite one early bull despatch and bronca, Morante de la Puebla is continuing in the mode established last year - one of trying to succeed on each and every afternoon.

[NB: Tristan will be attending Madrid’s Feria de San Isidro next week and, if all goes according to plan, will be posting daily reports and photos from May 16-23 on the festejos he’s attending. These will include Andrés Roca Rey’s opening San Isidro corrida, the confirmación de alternativa of Tomás Rufo, Paco Ureña’s encerrona and the corridas of Arauz de Robles and Pedraza de Yeltes bulls.]

Reflections on Sevilla

San Isidro, May 15: A matter of timing

Modernising bullfighting’s implements