When the great Juan Belmonte first appeared in the bullrings, his toreo was rough and (un)ready, tossings not infrequent. The veteran figura Guerrita at first did not believe what others reported to him of Belmonte’s toreo, his ability to link passes while remaining standing on the same spot. But, speaking in Córdoba’s Club Guerrita after seeing Juan perform in Sevilla, Guerrita exclaimed that what the newcomer did was impossible - “Ve pronto j’a verlo que ese es carne de mataero”.

Manuel Benítez El Cordobés left a similar impression in his novillero years. The Gan ‘Toreros de Historia’ film on him, now available on the Plaza Toros TV website as ‘Viaje en el Tiempo: El Cordobés’, shows him almost up in the air as much as his feet are on the ground! Here was another torero who had developed his own understanding of toreo - indeed, it was still under development, a contributing factor to his numerous cogidas. But times had changed since Belmonte’s day and Benítez had a wily manager, Rafael Sánchez El Pipo, behind him, someone who could make the most of promoting Benítez’s seemingly casual approach to a dangerous profession, the drama of cogidas and cornadas. Fuelled by the publicity slogan, ‘Sólo ante el peligro’, Benítez gained contracts all over Spain. Once again, the refrain, “See him before he gets killed,” did the rounds and the crowds flocked to the plazas to catch a glimpse of the new phenomenon. Arguably, the icing on the cake was the torero’s serious goring on the day of his confirmación de alternativa in Las Ventas in 1964.

It struck me, watching the Gan video, how much times have moved on again since then. The escuelas taurinas that now form part of most aspiring toreros’ upbringing mean that it is rare nowadays to see self-schooled novilleros performing rudimentary toreo in the bullring. Unless one is a regular attendee of festejos sin picadores, it is usual to see novilleros performing pretty competently, already schooled in the practice of toreo.

Attitudes towards toreros who are often injured have changed too, in that they are frequently viewed as not being up to the task rather than daredevils one must rush to see before it’s too late. Two contemporary examples are Gonzalo Caballero and Raúl Jiménez Fortes. Caballero, with his friends in Spain’s Royal Family, is also derided as a señorito, but, as underlined by the number of injuries he has received in the suerte, is seen as being technically deficient when it comes to the kill. There is rather more respect for Fortes, who, at his very best, is a torero worth watching, but he has an unfortunate and lengthy track record of being caught by the bulls. Whenever I have seen the malagueño perform, he has been injured more often than not. This includes two serious injuries in Las Ventas - two horn wounds in the throat in 2015 and a lengthy tossing at the 2018 Feria de Otoño that left him with a broken leg and put him out of action until very recently.

There is one exception to this new attitude and that is José Tomás. His serious goring at Autlán de la Grana (Mexico) in January 1996 - shortly after his alternativa - was his first experience of being given the last rites in a plaza infirmary and, although it had limited impact at the time, effectively formed the start of the José Tomás legend, amplified by his successful challenging of the established figuras in Spain in subsequent temporadas.

Part of the madrileño’s singular approach to toreo was his determination to stand his ground - a factor involved in his receiving a number of injuries and which gave the impression of belated reactions to bulls hooking at his body. His last sizable temporada (49 corridas) took place in 2002, after which he retired for four years, returning in 2007 for 15 appearances in Spain and France before conducting a winter season in Latin America.

It was in Mexico three years later that a bull almost killed him. Appearing at Aguascalientes on April 24, José was caught in the left leg by a bull of Pepe Garfias, the horn cutting the femoral artery and the iliac vein. Tomás was rushed to the infirmary and soon a call went out for spectators to donate blood; the torero received the last rites once more and also seven litres of blood before being transferred to hospital.

*Quite to an injured José Tomás, Santander 2001*

This injury and the coverage it received, coupled with the matador’s increasing rarity value (he fought just 20 corridas in Spain and France in 2008 and 22 in 2009), set the refrain going once again - “You should see him before he’s killed”. He returned to the bullrings in July 2011 in Valencia’s San Jaime feria, making just eight more appearances that season; in 2012, he only fought thrice, including his memorable encerrona at Nîmes, before sitting out 2013 altogether; 2014 saw four appearances; 2015 one; 2016 seven; and 2017-19 just one corrida per season. He was signed up for two corridas at Nîmes for this year - and there were rumours these would form part of a longer temporada - but coronavirus restrictions put paid to that. Since his Aguascalientes goring, virtually all of his corridas have been sell-outs: indeed, his appearances have sometimes been responsible for selling out whole ferias. The opportunity to see someone truly risking their life in the bullring still has huge drawing power.

“You should see him before he’s killed…”

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