Valencia Valuations
With Las Fallas over for another year, it is worth considering who the feria’s triunfadores were and their varying prospects for the temporada they have ahead.
Andrés Roca Rey forecast 2024 would be a difficult season at the start of the year, perhaps anticipating that, without El Juli and with the physical and mental fragility of Morante de la Puebla, it was likely that the weight of the temporada would fall solely on his young shoulders. Olivenza was a foretaste of what could befall the Peruvian - put on in both of the town’s corridas, he drew poor bulls and finished with just one ear to his name, a disappointment. In his first of two appearances at Valencia, the bulls were poor once again: the generous Valencian public still wanted to award Andrés two ears from his second animal, but the president thought otherwise.
Come his second corrida on March 17, however, Roca Rey produced perhaps his greatest afternoon to date. There were characteristic aspects to the Peruvian’s performance - toreo from on his knees, passing his animals closely and extending series to their very limit - but this time absolute dominio replaced his frequent roughness. All was calm, collected and determined, and, with two fine jandillas, Roca Rey won three ears and was carried on shoulders to his hotel and later adjudged the feria triunfador. This extraordinary performance has set him up for the rest of the temporada; the crowds’ expectations will be high and full houses virtually assured.
It’s rare that one feria features two best-ever performances, but Paco Ureña’s March 19 faena to his second Montalvo bull was absolutely superb - some critics even regarded it as the best of the feria. The lorquino’s naturales to a determined animal were marvellous, the torero standing with his legs apart, accompanying the charge with his waist and chest and cargando la suerte. He closed with ‘naturales’ with the right hand. The swordwork cost him any trophies, but Paco (who, once again, considered retirement over the winter) had reminded everyone of just what high quality toreo he can produce - on this occasion, without the fragility that can be a feature of his performances. He has one corrida in Sevilla and three in Madrid ahead of him to cement that impression and hopefully lead to a busier temporada than in 2023.
(Image from Plaza1)
Since his Madrid triumph at the end of last year, Borja Jiménez has the wind in his sails, the empresas apparently behind him and he can currently do no wrong. In Valencia, with one bull of Puerto de San Lorenzo and another of Juan Pedro Domecq, the sevillano impressed on both animals, cutting an ear from the first and being awarded a vuelta after the mulilleros dragged his second out while the crowd were still petitioning for an ear to be awarded. His estocada to his opening animal and his second faena, with work close to the boards, impressed, although, to my mind, the finest toreo on March 18 came from Juan Ortega. Unless disaster strikes, Borja already has his season made, with two appearances in Sevilla’s Feria de Abril, three in San Isidro and a corrida in Zaragoza’s Feria de San Jorge ahead of him.
El Fandi, 42 years old and in his 24th season as a matador de toros, will be delighted with his March 19 exit on shoulders at Valencia after winning an ear from each of his Montalvo bulls. The Valencian crowd likes to be entertained and David Fandila is the consummate entertainer. In addition, he drew two montalvos that performed strongly in their faenas, their matador toreando on his knees, producing alardes and molinetes and killing his first bull particularly well. The veteran has a date with miuras coming up in Sevilla and one appearance in San Isidro with fuenteymbros and doubtless will have a busy season in the lesser plazas.
When Román announced his decision to face six bulls en solitario at Valencia on March 10, many questioned the wisdom of such an event on home soil. If he triumphed, wouldn’t the general public and the empresas simply consider it a local success? On a treacherously windy afternoon and facing bulls with impressive trapío and armament (not Valencia’s normal fare), Román Collado cut just two ears - from the second and sixth bulls (Fuente Ymbro and Luis Algarra) - faced a particularly dangerous victorino and was twice tossed by a bull of Domingo Hernández. But his toreo was characteristically honest, come what may. But that question remains - currently, Román has just two afternoons in Madrid and one at Vic Fezensac ahead of him between now and the end of May.
Alejandro Peñaranda cut an ear from each of his Chamaco novillos in the feria’s opening novillada on March 9. Now in his fourth season as a novillero con picadores, he will be hoping to take the alternativa at his home feria of Albacete in September: at the moment, he has two contracts in France and an appearance in San Isidro in his diary. At Valencia, he coped well with none-too-easy bulls on a windy afternoon, producing some fine linked derechazos to his second, and killed both animals with excellent, no-nonsense estocadas.
There were other toreros who won single ears in Valencia - Manzanares (one strong faena) and the novilleros Jarocho (killing well) and Nek Romero (a local favourite managed by Santiago López and due to take the alternativa here in October) - but their successes were relatively minor and are unlikely to impact on their seasons.
The other good news from Valencia were the crowd figures of over 90,000. Next stop, Sevilla.