Behind the 2023 season’s triunfadores, there are a number of toreros who either had particularly strong temporadas or who managed to maintain their existing high standing.

Achieving impact

The matador de toros who achieved most impact by the time the season ended was Borja Jiménez, thanks to his Otoño afternoon with victorinos in Madrid, when he impressed with his ambition and toreo and cut an ear off each of the three bulls he faced.

Apart from a corrida at Zaragoza, in which he showed respectably against palhas, that was the end of his season. Earlier, he had gone out on shoulders at Cantillana and made a strong showing in the Copa Chenel, only failing to reach the competition’s final when some mis-scoring occurred in the penultimate corrida. In August, he fought six bulls at Cazalla de la Sierra, winning six ears and a tail, and he had a good September afternoon in Écija, when he cut three ears. Borja is unlikely to have his head turned by that triumph in Madrid (his brother, Javier, also had a Las Ventas triumph, after which his career went nowhere), and has already said he reckons 2024 will see him facing toros duros in the main.

The young Mexican Isaac Fonseca enjoyed a successful first full European season as a matador de toros and finished 24th in the escalafón, winning 25 ears from 16 corridas. He emerged as the deserving triunfador of the Copa Chenel certamen, doing well in each round and winning three ears despite injury in what turned into an unplanned encerrona finale at Colmenar Viejo in June. He also went out on shoulders at Aignan, Pamplona, St Vincent de Tyrosse, Iniesta, Navalcarnero and Riaza. On the negative side, one of his Pedraza de Yeltes bulls was returned to the corrales at Dax after three avisos. Isaac had two appearances at Las Ventas - his confirmación de alternativa on May 15 and his reward for winning the Copa Chenel, an appearance in the plaza’s final corrida of the season on October 12 - and went very close to winning an ear on each occasion.

Emilio de Justo (fourth in the escalafón with 83 ears and one tail cut from 50 corridas) achieved a long-anticipated exit through Madrid’s Puerta Grande on May 11. Prior to that, he’d won three ears from his two afternoons in Sevilla’s Feria de Abril and left the plazas of Almendralejo, Arenas de San Pedro and Guijuelo on shoulders. A three-ear triumph in Valladolid was followed by a similar tally at Plasencia in a mano a mano with Antonio Ferrera, and then Emilio had a bull of Toros de El Torero indultado at Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Two-ear faenas followed at Saint Sever, Burgos, Soria, Mont de Marsan, Roquetas de Mar, Iscar, Huesca, Málaga, Cuenca, Navalcarnero, Almodóvar del Campo, Nîmes (in a mano a mano with Daniel Luque), Corella, Zaragoza and Jaén, and a number of other triumphs, for instance in Valladolid and Albacete, were lost through deficient swordwork. Emilio is a limited torero, but, on his day, very good - and he had sufficient very good days this season to improve his standing for 2024.

The veteran Domingo López Chaves had an excellent temporada following his announcement at the start of the season that this would be his last. Now 46 years old, he began his temporada with his Madrid despedida, facing José Escolar bulls, receiving an ovation on his first. For once, his regular Vic Fezensac appearance was unsuccessful, the Rehuelga bulls not helping either torero in a mano a mano with Daniel Luque, but his 7-bull despedida at Ledesma with a range of Salamancan bulls yielded 10 ears and two tails, including symbolic apendices after a bull of Domingo Hernández was indultado (a feat he repeated two months later at Guijuelo). He won two ears from a La Quinta bull at Santander; received ovations at Bilbao; had triumphs at Guadix and Medina del Campo; then closed his career by winning four ears at Salamanca in a mano a mano with El Juli. This was another torero (39th in the escalafón with 25 ears and three tails from 10 corridas) whose reputation had grown over the course of the temporada, but he is adamant his retirement is for real and has taken on management of José Garrido for 2024.

As one goes, another returns…. The announcement of Manuel Jesús El Cid’s 2023 comeback came as a surprise and produced little reaction on the part of the mundillo. His home city of Sevilla did respond, however, Manuel impressing, taking a vuelta and winning an ear in the Feria de Abril’s victorinada. It was four months before he fought again - at El Espinar, where he cut two ears from an adolfo. Later in August at Tarifa, he had a bull of Fuente Ymbro indultado, winning symbolic ears and tail, and a further triumph occurred the next month at Zalamea la Real. His final ear of a 7-corrida temporada that saw him finish 56th in the escalafón came on a superb afternoon at Albacete when he very nearly cut more. Madrid finally put him on as a substitute for Morante de la Puebla in its last corrida of the year, and, despite not winning any trophy, Manuel showed what San Isidro had missed. El Cid will be 50 in 2024, but, on the basis of his 2023 performances, will deserve more contracts than the seven he had this year.

Together with Fernando Adrián and Borja Jiménez, Clement Dubecq Clemente was one of the year’s surprises. From Bordeaux and in his seventh season as a matador de toros, Clemente began 2023 with four successive salidas a hombros - at the spa town of Gamarde les Bains in March, Arles in April (with victorinos), and Istres and La Brede in June. It was not until September - at Dax and Vieux Boucau - that he was carried out on shoulders again, although he cut single ears at Mont de Marsan, Bayonne and Saintes Maries de Mer (where he was out-performed by El Rafi in a mano a mano). He finished 35th in the escalafón with 16 ears from 12 corridas, all of them in France, but the prestigious locations of a number of his successful afternoons, and the fact that his corrida numbers more than doubled in comparison with 2022, indicate a more fruitful 2024 in terms of contracts - perhaps even an appearance in Spain.

Jorge Martínez only fought three corridas in 2023 - his alternativa did not occur until during Almería’s August feria - but left on shoulders at the end there and at Murcia and Vera and vindicated the afición’s long-held feeling that this novillero was not only ready for the alternativa, but would shine more with toros bravos. The 23-year-old will be hoping for a successful temporada de rodaje in 2024.

29-year-old Daniel Crespo was another matador who had just three contracts this year, although his alternativa occurred in 2018 at his birthplace of El Puerto de Santa María. This year, in two of the town’s summer corridas and sharing carteles with the likes of El Juli, Andrés Roca Rey, José María Manzanares and Juan Ortega, Daniel was the triunfador de la tarde on each occasion, winning three ears on his first afternoon and two on his second. His only other contract was at Cehegín in September, where he again went out on shoulders. This is another torero deserving of more contracts.

Maintaining status

As with any season, a number of toreros generally felt to be worth seeing maintained their reputation. Let us start with the younger ones - the ones who provide hope for the future - before going on to look at those longer standing matadors who continued to do well in 2023, albeit without setting the world of bullfighting alight.

It would have been difficult for Tomás Rufo to improve on his enormously successful 2022 temporada. The 25-year-old nevertheless achieved his second Sevilla Puerta del Príncipe on April 27, very nearly exited through Madrid’s Puerta Grande too during San Isidro, and produced two-ear faenas at Castellón, Arenas de San Pedro (where he cut four ears to Emilio de Justo’s three and Roca Rey’s one), Talavera de la Reina (twice - winning four ears and a tail on the second occasion), Pontevedra, Gijón, Motilla de Palancar, Valladolid and Nîmes. In several plazas, he was still making his debut, so new is his status as a matador de toros. He finished 11th in the escalafón, with 44 ears and that Talavera tail from 30 corridas, two less than the previous season. For Tomás - with El Juli gone, the Lozano family’s sole torero - 2024 will be an important year to consolidate his position as a new figura.

Juan Ortega, 33, fought the same number of corridas as in 2022 (30) but won 10 more ears and finished one place higher (12th) in the escalafón. His temporada began strongly with exits on shoulders at Valdemorillo and Málaga, but appearances at Sevilla (where his capework again shone) and Córdoba were disappointing thanks to the quality of the bulls he’d drawn. Two-ear faenas followed at Santander (in which feria, run by his apoderado, he appeared twice) and Huesca, and in a strong end-of-season run at Antequera, Tarazona de Aragón, Motilla del Palancar, Valladolid (a superb four-ear afternoon) and Úbeda. The trianero is gradually impressing more and more people - and the best is probably yet to come.

Ortega’s fellow sevillano and accomplice in toreo del arte, Pablo Aguado, had a less successful temporada but the 32-year-old nevertheless maintained his standing as a torero of interest. He won an ear on the first of two appearances in the Feria de Abril; beat his compatriot by cutting four ears in a mano a mano at Torrejón de Ardoz; and left the plaza on shoulders at Bocairente, Burgos, Íscar, El Puerto de Santa María and Motilla del Palancar before winning another ear in Sevilla’s Feria de San Miguel. He ended up 13th in the escalafón, one place below Ortega, with a tally of 24 ears from 30 corridas.

26-year-old Ginés Marín experienced a slight drop in his number of corridas compared to 2022, from 30 to 27, and a fall of three places in the escalafón, from 12th to 15th, but remains a young matador to be reckoned with. His first success of the season came at Sevilla, where he cut two ears, and he won a further ear on his first appearance in Madrid’s San Isidro feria. He produced two-ear faenas at Badajoz (where he cut four ears and a tail), Pamplona, Santander (where he strangely came in as a substitute despite having been judged triunfador of the resort’s 2022 feria), Tudela, Huesca, Herrera del Duque, Don Benito, Navaluenga, Navalcarnero, Guadalajara and Logroño.

David Galván (27th in the escalafón with 15 corridas - in both cases down two from 2022) did well to cut 36 ears and three tails. The 30-year-old, managed by Juan Ruiz Palomares since 2021, seemed to benefit from more publicity this year and delivered two-ear faenas at El Tiemblo (winning three ears in total off bulls of Pedrés), Algeciras, Soria (facing adolfos), Estepona, San Fernando (where he won four ears and a tail), Estella, San Roque, El Burgo de Osma, Priego de Córdoba, Villanueva de Arzobispo and Ugijar (Granada), where he cut four ears and two tails and had a bull of Julio de la Puerta y Castro indultado. Unlike the earlier names in this section, he was willing to face toros duros, cutting single ears from two bulls of Victorino Martín at Santisteban del Puerto and facing miuras at Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

Francisco de Manuel (23) had a patchy season after his Madrid triumph at the very end of the 2022 temporada. His contract numbers almost doubled (from eight to 15) and he would probably have obtained more corridas this year had it not been for a lack of consistency. A single ear was won at Valencia’s Las Fallas and there were departures on shoulders at Castellón and Almoguera (Guadalajara), but his Sevilla corrida and his appearances at Madrid’s San Isidro were uneventful. After a fallow period of almost three months, he returned to Las Ventas to save the day but cutting an ear from the last Fuente Ymbro on el Día de La Paloma (August 15). Things improved markedly after that with salidas a hombros at Colmenar Viejo, San Sebastián de los Reyes, Utrera, Guadalajara and Yunquera de Henares. He finished 29th in the escalafón with 19 ears won and had done enough to maintain his promising status for another year.

30-year-old David de Miranda had another successful season (23rd in the escalafón on 16 corridas, 34 ears and two tails), albeit without breaking through to the main feria circuit and largely confined to Spain’s south. His vertical toreo delivered two-ear faenas at Cabra, Mérida, Palos de la Frontera (from four bulls in all over two corridas), Huelva (on two occasions), Sacedón, Bayonne and Yunquera de Henares.

Turning to the older matadores de toros, Miguel Ángel Perera began the season strongly with a three-ear triumph at Valdemorillo in February, but didn’t go out on shoulders again until Istres four months later, his Sevilla and San Isidro appearances being unsuccessful. After that, though, there were triumphs at Pamplona, Tudela, Íscar, Huesca, Calatayud (in a mano a mano with Jorge Isiegas), Tomelloso, Linares, Palencia, Medina del Campo, Cintruénigo, Salamanca, Albacete, Las Rozas and Fregenal de la Sierra. He ended up 10th in the escalafón, having cut 56 ears and three tails from 32 corridas. Looking at his season overall, the extremeño’s status was maintained, although aficionados will miss seeing the exceptional banderilleros Curro Javier and Javier Ambel in his cuadrilla when he appears in 2024.

Manuel Escribano, like El Cid, was treated badly by the empresas in 2023, particularly after he produced a wonderful, templada faena to a victorino and strong performances with miuras in Sevilla’s Feria de Abril. A substitution in San Isidro was denied him, but he had a bull of Julio de la Puerta y Castro indultado at Osuna in May, triumphed with victorinos at Algeciras, went out on shoulders at Moraleja, and had a busy August and September with successes at La Adrada, San Roque (including another indulto, this time of a fuenteymbro), Santisteban del Puerto, Almendralejo, El Burgo de Osma, Peñaranda de Bracamonte, Tarifa, Ampuero, Villaviciosa de Odón, Hoyo de Pinares and, in October, at Arcos de la Frontera. He finished 16th in the escalafón with 58 ears and six tails from 26 corridas; he has now signed with Alberto García of Tauroemoción, which should see him gain more contracts next year.

Curro Díaz’s 26th season as a matador de toros saw just one visit to a first class plaza (Madrid pre-San Isidro), but was otherwise very successful. The veteran from Linares went out on shoulders at 14 of the 18 corridas in which he appeared, including Palos de la Frontera, Colmenar de Oreja (three ears from Portuguese Sobral bulls), Baeza, Antequera, Linares, Damiel (four ears from victorinos), Béjar and Úbeda, closing his temporada by cutting ears and tails in a second appearance at Úbeda and at Jaén. Curro came 18th in the escalafón; his singular toreo deserves to be seen more.

One of my more uncomfortable viewings on OneToro this year was an interview with Simon Casa in which the empresario exclaimed about the magnificent season of his torero Alejandro Talavante. In truth, his was a middling temporada at best. He finished second in the escalafón with 70 ears and four tails cut from 53 appearances, but a lot of those ears were awarded singly. Two-ear faenas came only at Olivenza, Valencia, Almendralejo, Estepona, Lunel (where a bull of Garcigrande was indultado), Huesca, Herrera del Duque, Guijuelo, Bilbao, Melilla, Don Benito, Murcia, Abarán and Zafra (his performance here including the indulto of a bull of Álavaro Núñez). Nevertheless, this was a better season for the extremeño than 2022 and it is clear from decisions already being taken for 2024 that he is once again being considered as one of the leading toreros.

Saúl Jiménez Fortes appeared just three times in 2023, finishing 85th in the escalafón, but impressed on each occasion, particularly in his encerrona at Antequera, which yielded five ears (including one from a victorino) and at Málaga, where he cut two ears and won an award as the feria triunfador. It remains to be seen whether these showings will be sufficient to revive his career in 2024.

Showing strongly (2023 Season Review Pt2)

Setbacks (2023 Season Review Pt3)

The year’s top toreros (2023 Season Review Pt1)