Many matadors dream of being managed independently of the big empresarios - a situation where every appearance delivers appropriate financial reward, as the torero is free of the system in which the empresas effectively barter appearances by their respective charges (“Let me have so-and-so for two afternoons in this plaza of mine and you can have such-and-such for a couple of afternoons in yours.”) or put the toreros signed to them in their own bullrings at reduced rates.

But independence arguably only really works for the greatest figuras, those who can torear consistently well and bring the crowds flocking to the plaza. When you’re not in that situation, things are more difficult - effectively, as each temporada begins, you once again have to prove your worth.

Miguel Ángel Perera knows this situation well. For the bulk of his career, the extremeño has been managed independently and he has started several seasons with very few contracts on the calendar. As time goes by - he is now in his 19th season as a matador de toros - things get no easier. Take, for instance, the recent comments of the critic Pla Ventura: “The pity is that, Perera, at this point in his life, in full decline of his profession, is complaining about the bad treatment that the empresas give him when, as is obvious, it would be the right time for the diestro from Extremadura to go home via the Puerta Grande of bullfighting. Like many others, he’s unable to recognise that his moment has passed […] He no longer interests anyone because there are other novelties, even some of his contemporaries, who, with more fortune than he, continue to be supported because perhaps they are a little more interesting.” This, of the man who, of today’s toreros, has gone out of the main gate of Las Ventas more than anyone else; who produced one of the best Madrid faenas of 2019; and who, only last year in an admittedly low-key temporada, cut ears in Sevilla and Vistalegre’s San Isidro series, had a bull of Parladé indultado at Huelva and delivered successful afternoons at Santander and Cuenca!

Faced with such indifference, Miguel Ángel will aim, once again, to start his season strongly and win contracts on the basis of his early successes. This year, though, there is a new dimension - in order to gain a place in the carteles of Castellón and Sevilla (having been excluded from the ferias of Olivenza and Las Fallas), he has agreed to torear victorinos. He has only fought one bull of Victorino Martín before, at Olivenza in 2010. Even though he has already been acclaimed triunfador of Valdemorillo’s February feria, his showings with these bulls will, one way or another, have a significant impact on his 2022 temporada, particularly as - after not featuring in Plaza 1’s early discussions of ganaderías and dates - he has opted to sit out San Isidro, doubtless hoping for a strong season that will see him return to the capital for San Miguel.

So, one approach is to ignore San Isidro on the grounds that your status hasn’t been sufficiently recognised by the empresa, while another is “to take the bull by the horns” in order to perform in the feria - an approach epitomised by another unjustly marginalised torero, Paco Ureña.

Paco’s 2021 temporada, which also included ears cuts at Sevilla and Vistalegre but was otherwise largely disappointing, came to an end with a serious injury at Abarán (Murcia) in October. Tossed against the barrera, he fractured a vertebra and tore a ligament in his right knee - injuries that required several weeks’ virtual immobility as part of the matador’s recuperation. Whilst lying in bed, Paco learned he was being dropped by his managers, the Lozanos; in November, it was announced he was taking on ex-matador Juan Diego, an independent, as his new apoderado.

But his troubles didn’t end there. Announcements followed that members of his cuadrilla were leaving his employ, then, as the initial carteles for 2022 were announced, his absences were noted to the extent that rumours circulated that he was about to retire. This was, after all, a torero who was frequently successful at Valencia, yet missing from the Las Fallas carteles, and the triunfador of Sevilla’s last Feria de Abril who had not even received a phone call about participation in this year’s feria (the empresa, Ramón Valencia, said he hadn’t phoned Ureña’s apoderado because, due to the numbers of figuras taking up two or three afternoons in the feria, he had “nothing worthy” of the murciano to offer him).

As prospective carteles for San Isidro began to be announced, it was clear that Ureña was receiving the same treatment as had occurred with Sevilla. This time, Juan Diego picked up the phone to Simon Casas and proposed that Ureña feature in the feria in an encerrona, taking on six bulls from different ganaderías. This is a high-risk strategy. Like Perera with Castellón and Sevilla, Paco’s afternoon in Madrid will be a major determining factor in how his 2022 temporada evolves.