Jock Richardson

The Not Very Appetising Apéritif

6 October - More in Hope than Expectation

That is a sentiment with which one always arrives at the Feria del Pilar in Zaragoza. What hopes we had on arrival soon started to atrophy. El Campo del Toro, scene of so many lunches and post-corrida discussion, is closed and Marpy, where the menu was printed below a picture of the Misericordia in its early days and one ate stellar stewed pigs’ feet under the watchful gaze of the hundreds of toreros who have fed our 66 years of afición, has changed hands, altered its menu, lost its ambiente and, on what will be the last visit of our lives, was host to not a single French aficionado.

The apéritif to the feria was to be two novilladas con pics, one corrida concurso de ganaderías and one novillada sin pics. The news that the mainstays of the feria were dropping off the carteles was already widely known: Morante’s wrist and Luque’s internal troubles meant that they would not come. El Juli has retired. Roca Rey is, I believe, off to America. How the programme will end up remains to be seen.

In the contract for the plaza, apparently, there is a clause forcing the empresario to mount a novillada of Santa Colomas in the feria. It is a wise taurine decision. It is a pity that they did not choose novillos from the local ranch, Los Maños, which has succeeded here in the past. La Machamona is an Asociación ganadería with pure Buendía ancestry. The third novillo was a Soto de la Fuente animal of Juan Pedro Domecq descent inscribed in la Unión.

Valentín Hoyos has been around for a few years, enjoying (or not) a roller-coaster ride of temporadas with few or very few contracts. Things looked very promising today as he welcomed his fast-charging Santa Coloma with a route march of verónicas all over the ring. There was little control, no art, but a great deal of enthusiasm. He followed that opening with another huge offering, this time of close and controlled chicuelinas. After Penarañda had performed a quite of close verónicas and the peones had placed three brilliant pairs of sticks, we might have been forgiven for thinking that we were in the presence of future greatness. But by the time the faena started, the novillo was exhausted and we were back into that novillero ritual of failures to achieve the cite position; pretty passes pegged singly and a low sword too far back. Hoyos has an exemplary amount of positivity and managed an impressive series of verónicas to his skinny, wild, fast, second Buendía. It took a couple of well-measured pics from Alejandro Sandoval before cooperating in an opening of varied secure and confident muleta pases. It was too good to last, though it was good while it lasted, and we were soon off to a demonstration of single pegged pases that went on for too long before the kill with a pinchazo and an estocada. He had been pleasing enough to win a vuelta.

Alejandro Peñaranda has for long appeared to us as being ready for the alternativa. He is assured, confident and has a classical technique that convinces. His first novillo, extraordinarily, had great trapío. Peñaranda demonstrated his abilities in some early verónicas, close and controlled, and while the novillo could still charge, but not for long, he drew long derechazos and naturales from it in individual slow charges. Linkage was out of the question, but his smooth, long remates and his wrist control were exemplary. That and his estocada won him a salutation. His second entered strongly, spun the horse around in its first pic and caught the lidiador in the cradle of its horns during the suerte. Its tardiness made life difficult for the banderilleros. Despite its flagging strength and Peñaranda’s need to peg single pases, the novillero was able to produce more of his long and controlled orthodox pases, enough to allow a desplante de rodillas and an estocada that won him a vuelta. The bovine misfortunes of the afternoon could not remove the conviction that here we have a lad of great promise.

Ignacio Boné was making his debut with picadors. His first novillo was the advertised Soto de la Fuente and it did not make his debut an easy one. His lack of understanding of the lidia, of finding the proper cite position, and his posing and gesturing did not help him either. Above all, his dreadful killing almost obliterated the memory of some beautifully adjusted cape work and some prettily pegged naturales and derechazos to each novillo. In my opinion, he needs to get back to school.

7 October – Another Lot of Not Very Brave Novillos

Santafé Martón is a Marqués de Domecq, Martelilla and Bañuelos cocktail, the samples of which we saw today did no credit to la cabaña brava, their breeder or to the veterinaries who allowed them to appear. They were weak, slow to move and distracted. Poor Diego Bastos was on a hiding to nothing with his first. It fell in the varas, winning a bronca, and was completely unable to charge by the time it came to the banderillas. To add insult to the injury already suffered by the audience, he dedicated its death to them. Bastos tried to extract some single pases from it but failed. He killed with an estocada to silence. His second had just a little more power. Unfortunately, it used it to catch him in an early larga cambiada de rodillas. The delantales of his recovery were a little more composed. It took a couple of light pics without enthusiasm and did charge for the banderilleros. He deserved some praise for the rough and ready series of linked naturales he managed and the similar derechazos that followed. The novillo was soon exhausted and Bastos would have done well to give up. He chose to squeeze single pases of very short length from an animal that must have been bored to tears. He gave in – too late – and killed with an estocada and the descabello. He won some applause.

*Daniel Medina (image from federaciontaurinavalladolid.com)*

Daniel Medina is a novillero growing in experience and skill. He has won el Zapato de Oro in Arnedo and has a classical and mature style. His first today was rejected as an invalid after collapsing throughout the first suerte and the substitute was stumbling as it left its light pics. That the banderilleros were able to place three brilliant pairs was a miracle. The rest was ample proof that no matter how professional a torero is, he cannot torear the intoreable. The knees of this beast buckled in the middle of every attempted pass. His second novillo was a weak animal with neither the desire nor the ability to charge. Medina managed a single linked series of derechazos midst a succession of single peg and readjust pases with each hand but soon surrendered to kill with a very crosswise sword.

*Tristán Barroso (image from sol-y-sombra.fr)*

Tristán Barroso is another of the up-and-coming novilleros who is progressing well in some places. He had his work cut out with the novillos he drew today. That he wanted to succeed was in no doubt as he opened with a larga cambiada de rodillas and a series of beautifully unfolded verónicas. The bull was the only member of the lot that had the vestiges of brave traits and Barroso did what he could with it in a faena of linked and complete right and left-handed pases interspersed with distant straight line toreo with much abuse of the pico. He killed with an estocada hasta la bola and won the first ear of the feria. How great he might have been with a decent novillo! Barroso was clearly after the main gate and marched to the toriles to welcome the sixth with a magnificent larga a portagayola. The nine chicuelinas performed in a peregrination all over the ring may not have been classical toreo; they were mighty good fun. There were a couple of light pics and suddenly the bull was sent out. Apparently, the president, Jorge Moreno, was making his debut in the job and had discovered that the novillo had not been subjected to the sorteo or the normal processes for acceptance. He threw it out and replaced it with a San Román substitute. Barroso, undaunted, tried to welcome it with a similar opening to that he had given the illegal novillo. It worked fine till he lost his cape. The rest of the lidia was a mixture of composed and linked derechazos and naturales with desperately drawn single pases that left Barroso’s potential in no doubt and highlighted the weakness of his San Román. Another ear was beyond reach and he soon killed with a very crosswise estocada.

It is worth reflecting on the fact that we are in a first category plaza in the very cradle of bullfighting where the fiesta is so strong that they fill the plaza twice a day for 10 days with vaquillas and fiestas populares. Something is rotten in the state of the formal fiesta in this city.

8 October – A Disastrous Corrida Concurso

The line-up for this concurso de ganaderías was very strange:

Paulita, a local matador who has been around for years, toreando toros duros, with a Murube from Castillejo de la Huebra;

Serranito, a local matador with the same credentials, with a Núñez of José Luis Pereda;

Joselillo, a man from Valladolid who has had a sporadic career, with a Domecq of Antonio López Gibaja which had to be substituted with a second José Luis Pereda;

Rubén Pinar from Albacete whose career has been sporadic, with an Aldeanueva Domecq of Hnos. Sánchez Herrero;

Carlos Gallego, another local matador not often seen, with a Veragua, yes, a Veragua, of Aurelio Hernando;

Juan del Álamo from Salamanca, a man who has not fulfilled his early promise, with a Núñez. Domecq, Torrestrella mixture bull of Hnos. Cambronell.

We might ask why a compulsory concurso de ganaderías in a first category plaza should offer bulls from such little-known herds full of núñez and domecq blood fought by second- and third-rate toreros. I must admit that I have seen every one of these toreros do well with difficult bulls in the past, but they hardly sit near the top of the pile. We might answer that Sr. Zúñiga is doing it on the cheap. That his confection was a total insult to the audience and a disgrace to the plaza and Diputación will soon become clear.

The ring was marked with the habitual V-shaped box with three equally spaced rings imposed, thus allowing charges from several measured distances. All was set for a formal disaster.

The Castillejo de la Huebra looked huge and had a trapío worthy of the plaza and the event. That it took four pics of varied strength was exemplary also. Paulita’s verónicas were close and rhythmic and the bull came to the muleta after two and a half difficult-to-place pairs of banderillas. Paulita was tentative at first, with single testing derechazos, but his confidence rose, and he created a faena containing series of smoothly linked and complete derechazos. The difficulties of the left horn were obvious to all, and he should be forgiven for not attempting left-handed pases. By the end of the faena, he had created a work that I thought, with many of the crowd, worthy of an ear. There was no ear, and nothing more than applause en el arrastre for the bull. We did not realise that we had seen by far the best of the afternoon.

The Núñez with which Serranito was paired was the biggest of the collection at 619 kilos. The matador sat at the toril gate and welcomed it with a larga cambiada de rodillas: promising stuff. Pero siempre hay un pero. It stumbled in a verónica that followed. And it stumbled as it left the second of the three pics for which it had been sensibly placed on the template but entered for without enthusiasm. At least it retained enough strength for the banderilleros to place three pairs well-received by the audience. Serranito opened his faena with a very close pase de espaldas accompanied by three thousand intakes of breath before he proceeded into a set of derechazos cited with the pico. Then, he got in front and cited from between the horns. In seconds, he was cradled on the vast forehead and transported across the ring. He was nearly caught in his next series before the bull pursued him with serious intent. ‘Cada toro tiene su lidia’: this was not a toro as we know it and it was not fit for any lidia of the kind we expect. One more near goring and Serranito realised that and gave up to deliver three pinchazos, an estocada and three descabellos before setting off for another year’s wait to be invited to fight intoreable animals in some Aragonese plaza or other.

The López Gabija offering lasted for seconds before its total invalidity was noticed, even by the president. All thoughts of a competition between six ganaderías disappeared when it was replaced by a second José Luis Pereda. It was handsome enough, but its weak front feet were obvious before the tercio de varas was under way. It charged for the first pic from well beyond the outer of the three rings and stumbled in Joselillo’s verónicas. The second cite was from a horse over its line and the bull collapsed after taking the pic. And, of course, it was very slow to move for the banderilleros. Why experienced matadors must dedicate faenas to such dreadful bulls to the audience is beyond me. Joselillo should have known that he would make little of this one. No matter how he tried, and he tried, all he could do was extract single pases and try to encourage the animal out of its lethargy. After he gave up, there was an estocada placed a little to the rear and four attempts with the descabello to the sound of an aviso.

Rubén Pinar was offered a Hnos. Herrero Domecq that was so skinny that it would have been protested as a novillo. Where it carried its 512 kilos of flesh and bone was a mystery. It took a couple of light pics in a desultory manner and charged most reluctantly at banderilleros who ran out of space before their placements: four single farpas in four entries. This was the noblest of them all and Pinar was able to make something of a faena with it. He managed several linked series with each hand with considerable style, serenity, and naturalness, the pases flowing and the temple preserved. It was a moonbeam shining through a very dark night. The bull was soon spent. Not so Pinar. He went on and on and on delivering single pases with adjustments between them until transmission between arena and tendidos was lost. There was a light little arrimón at the end and a kill with a bajonazo as the aviso sounded.

Carlos Gallego is another aragonese matador who does not appear very often. Indeed, because he runs a restaurant, Los Caprichos in Pina de Ebro, toreando may well be his hobby. Fighting Veraguas in Aragón – he faced Prieto de la Cal bulls in 2010 - is a dreadful way to practise a hobby. The melocotón bull was not properly placed for its first pic and it shoved the horse along the barrera towards an overthrow that did not quite come to pass. The bull was uninterested, the matador disorganised, and no matter how much goodwill poured from the man, he could achieve little. It took a long time and the aviso sounded before he finally dispatched the handsome animal with an estocada and several descabellos.

There was a good deal of itinerant cape flapping to the music of la jota before la suerte de varas. Nobody told Juan del Álamo that the pattern in the contraquerencia was there for a reason and that he was but a functionary in a different kind of corrida, a concurso de ganaderías in which testing the bull against the horse is an integral part. The bull did take one long pic, pushing hard, but fell before its second. In the style of a figura in a second plaza, Juan del Álamo was calling for the change of suerte after that single pic. He looked quite discombobulated when the cambio was refused. It did not matter, the attempt at a third pic was a shambles. His opening was of tentative derechazos, but for a short spell he composed himself and showed his true worth in some classical linked passes that did transmit to the tendidos. The bull was not strong enough for such real toreo and Juan was soon squeezing single pases from an exhausted animal. He put an end to what, it must be admitted, was a disastrous attempt to hold a concurso de ganaderías and provide a corrida de toros worthy of the name. Where will we go from here?

(In a final stroke of irony, El Heraldo de Aragón spent more ink on their report on the morning vaquillas than they did on the concurso.)

9 October – For Something a Little Different

Today, we had two lads from Huesca and one from a school called something like, if I read it rightly, the Cloud of Dreams, facing a lot of erales from Toros de Guerrero that were a replacement for an encierro of Santafé Martón animals. Sr. Zúñiga, apparently, even has difficulty finding erales to pass the entrance exam.

Porta Miravé opened with carefully delivered verónicas to a fast charging eral. They were smooth, elegant, and authoritative. Jorge Mallán replied with a sculptured larga. The lightening charges kept los peones thinking but allowed them to place three fine pairs of sticks. Mirave has a strong yet flexible wrist that he used to good effect in complete series of derechazos and naturales. Often, he ended a series with a truly elegant trench pass. The eral was strong and the lad enthusiastic and by the end, he was concocting a veritable broth of varied pases: por altos por bajos, trincheras and trincherillas. It was, perhaps a kind of passing out of school portfolio, but after what we had been getting for the past three days it was delicious. The close, brief, arrimón to end was, under the circumstances, excusable; the eight descabellos after the estocada were not.

I lost Porta’s second faena because I was passing time with the Security Guard in the tunnel who would not allow me to stand on a high enough step to see it. We argued about the reglamentos, my rights and his responsibilities while he allowed the locals to exercise all the freedoms that they chose. I lost the argument and the faena, so will have to retrieve it from a newspaper paper tomorrow, something I seldom do.

Jorge Mallán started his afternoon with two largas cambiadas de rodillas: hot stuff. His two verónicas and a media were just as entertaining. When Roberto Martín did his quite of saltilleras, we might have believed that all was well in the taurine world. The banderillas were poorly placed but the novillo was still strong and Mallán’s estatuarios, accompanied by music from the start, were super-confident. If the lad would stick to the classical toreo of which he is clearly adept, he would convince. But he has an overwhelming urge to get to his knees, to indulge in a toreo that borders on the tremendismo, and to milk the crowd as if he was a genius. On the other hand, he rests the bull well, seeks to cite from between the horns and to deliver complete pases. He brought all of these traits to bear in a faena that contained many well-constructed derechazos. He ended his faena with a pinchazo in the shoulder of the eral and three estocadas to the. sound of the aviso. His second eral was quick moving but distracted so the opening verónicas were done on the retreat. The strong little bullet did focus on the banderilleros, who performed magnificently. Jorge’s faena started well enough with long and linked derechazos and naturales. They suggested a well of potential. The unstructured and disorganised bombardment of single passes, eyes all the while raised towards the audience, that followed showed that he still has much to learn. So did the three pinchazos and the estocada with which he killed.

Roberto Martín was so close to the middle – he cannot have read the advice of Santiago López in Todos los Suertes por sus Maestros – to welcome the bull on its knees, I was sure it would not work. His successful larga proved how little I know. The second lance of the same type in the tablas was just as competent. The eral went round and round the ring out of control after that, but Roberto stopped it for a while and gave it six clean and stylish verónicas. The erratic nature of the animal made placing banderillas difficult and for a while it seemed things were on a downward slide. But Roberto Martín is a sound youngster and the eral was, for all its wildness, straightforward. We were treated to a session of well-learned classical toreo by a lad with a personal style. His lapse into late pass pegging after the time for the kill had been reached marred the performance a little for me, but when his low, vertical estocada dropped the eral the audience were convinced, and he was awarded two ears. And the eral was given a vuelta al ruedo.

*Roberto Martín (image from elperiodicodearagon.com)*

His opening portagayola to the sixth was just as successful as had been the earlier ones and though his verónicas were rough, they were positive and improving as he marched the eral to los medios. His eral was another little charging machine and he was as keen as ever, so keen in fact that he lost the place for a while and allowed the animal to catch both him and his lure several times. Fortunately, he composed himself and, the enthusiasm of youth checked, he tried hard to produce a complete faena. There were careless moments, but the lad kept himself in check most of the time and his parados and templados linked pases were convincing. He ended with some elegant pases por alto and an estocada and won a second ear.

Apparently, I had not missed much during my imprisonment in the tunnel. Porta Miravé had failed to do much with his second novillo, which had been a demanding and aggressive eral that he did not understand. Indeed the critics I read thought that he had let a triumph escape him.

A Tastelesss Entrante

10 October – Don’t Believe los Carteles

It is time for a warning. I opened this series of reports by suggesting that arrival at the corridas del Pilar has never been a guarantee that one is heading towards a week that will unfold as hoped for. So far, the story told has been a miserable one, what with inadequate bulls and unsuccessful toreros. It is my responsibility to report what I see from my personal point of view and that is what I have done. I have not been trying to run down the plaza or the feria or even the empresario, even if it seems like that. No doubt it is difficult to mount a first category feria at the very end of a temporada when so many figuras are unavailable and readjustments to bull-production have been caused by a pandemic. Besides, I have often argued that we should be grateful for corridas that end badly because they prove how difficult it is to create ones that end well. We would be bored to tears if every corrida we saw was a six-ear triumph. It is, fortunately, impossible to forecast what is going to happen next in la fiesta brava. These reports are not meant to advise people not to come to this feria. The rest of the week may prove to be brilliant and next year’s feria could be a huge success. We may even have turned the corner with yesterday’s great erales and ambitious youths.

But I doubt it. All day, the rumours have indicated that there has been a hiccup between el campo bravo and the managers of la Misericordia. Numbers vary, but it seems that as many as 25 bulls were inspected and rejected as unsuitable for today’s corrida. What was to be a corrida of three José Vázquez bulls and three Hnos. García Jiménez bulls ended up as a corrida of one bull of José Luis Pereda, four of José Vázquez and one of Puerto de San Lorenzo. As far as the audience went, it did not seem to matter: the plaza was three quarters full.

El Fandi opened the corrida in time-honoured fashion with a torrent of verónicas, chicuelinas and a larga: he confident and professional, they itinerant yet templados. It was a splash of light on the week’s dark canvas. His walking chicuelinas taking the bull to the horse were the work of a great capeador. The bull took a light pic. El Fandi did not learn his banderilla performances from a book on technique. His work is rushed, there is an awful lot of backwards running and almost every pair is placed a toro pasado. On the other hand, he often moves from the barrier towards the centre into dangerous terrain and from wherever he places them, he places them accurately en todo lo alto. Above all, he entertains the audience – and that is his honest intent. His faena was rough, linear, and distant, with the pico much in evidence. It was as varied as it was ugly. Then, for a moment, he put the muleta in his left hand and dominated a very difficult left horn with a series of classical naturales. He killed with an estocada desprendida of immediate effect. His opening to the third comprised three largas cambiados de rodillas between each of which the bull made a circuit of the ring. We had a wild bull faced by a wild torero and the rest of the cape work was a shambles. At one point, El Fandi tried to calm things down by administering, of all things, a lopesina. The bull did finally charge in to take a pic and the quite of gaoneras and afarolados kept the temperature high in the tendidos. Two pairs of sticks in El Fandi fashion were placed after huge backwards runs and a pair al violín turned into two pairs in a final cuarteo. His running of the bull a cuerpo limpio was as epic as it was precise, and he deserved his ovation. Despite the bull falling twice at the beginning of the faena, El Fandi managed to draw some slow and templados pases from it as it weakened. He killed with a bajonazo which was ignored by a large part of the audience, and it was surprising that the close petition for an ear was unpersuasive. El Fandi always comes in for condemnation from the critics of el Heraldo and el Periodico. He will, no doubt, get the same tomorrow: he is repetitive; he lacks variety, giving the same performance every time; he does not perform true toreo. Yet the man pays close attention to the bulls, engages with them at every second by talking to them, looking them in the eyes and trying hard to keep them focussed. He directs la lidia and he advises his colleagues. Above all, he tries hard to give his audience what they want. These, in my opinion, are not vices.

Sebastián Castella is having a good season. His first José Vázquez had a bad start today. It fell against the barrera soon after entry and only allowed a few scrappy verónicas from the Frenchman. It pushed lightly with a single horn in the first pic and merely complied in a second. Despite its reluctance – or inability – to charge, José Chacón placed a brilliant pair of sticks. Castella let it run past him close to the barrera in some pases por alto and squeezed a few clean, close single pases from it with each hand, but he was plumbing an empty well. He killed with an estocada from a huge volapié. Most of the boos must have been for the bull. Castella had tried. ‘Obrador’, the fifth that was to turn out to be very unworkmanlike indeed, was charging the horse carrying the picador de turno as they entered the ring. It showed far less enthusiasm when the formal suerte got under way; it was cowardly against the pics and left them readily. Matadors often dedicate their last bull of the year to their teams. Castella did so with this bull. It was a mere gesture because it was obvious already that the bull could not support a faena. Castella did try in some slow and carefully constructed ayudados near the boards - and some right- and left-handed pases rendered rough by the reluctant behaviour of the bull. He soon realised that there was no art, beauty or toreo to be had from this bull, whose five years and eight months of age rendered it more appropriate for the knackers’ yard than the bullring, even a merciful one, and killed it with a pinchazo bajo, a media tendida and a descabello. We must hope Castella will be back next year.

Paco Ureña, the matador from Lorca so endowed with skill and courage, drew a poor lote this afternoon. The third obeyed neither the cape of the matador nor the pics, for which the picador had to ride his horse right up to the bull’s body, ignoring the reglamentos and the roars of the crowd. Ureña’s quite of three templadas verónicas was exemplary. The brega was poorly done and the banderilleros had insufficient space in which to move after the recalcitrant bull was drawn out of its comfort zone. It was a poor suerte. Ureña exceeded expectations with linked series of derechazos and naturales, he calm and erect and the lure moved rhythmically and slowly. The bull ran out of one series and Ureña dashed on to its trajectory in a flash to find the cite position and continue toreando. “Man outwits Bull!”. Ureña is an expert at finding the correct cite position and so he was with this bull, crossing the line of charge and offering the lure. And he works to extend the duration of the pass by use of wrist, waist, and torso. There could not be much of it, but what there was impressive. He killed with several pinchazos too far forward and an estocada entera. He got little thanks. The huge Atanasio in sixth place was impressive for its bulk and its reminder of how members of its dwindling encaste used to look. It was weak in its front legs, though, and was soon stumbling. It worked hard in the single pic it took. Better still, it charged the banderilleros with a will and Azquita and Agustín de Espartinas placed a brilliant pair each. Two series of Ureña’s smooth and complete naturales omened well, but the distraction of the bull soon took over. The whole thing fell apart as it had to be chased all over the ring to extract rough pases of little effect. Ureña soon bowed to the inevitable and killed with a couple of pinchazos and a low sword.

11 October – Six Bulls from a Single Ganadería Fail to Improve the Situation

I once read an answer to the question, “How do the Lozanos produce so many good bulls?” It was, “They produce so many that some of them are bound to be good by pure happenstance” The six we got today, all from Alcurrucén, were of the less than perfect type.

Daniel Luque fell from the cartel, so they had to find someone to fill the slot. Why not good old reliable José Ignacio Uceda Leal? He fights fewer than 10 corridas a year, is a reliable telonero, a good killer and, surely, cannot cost much. So, we had Uceda Leal. His first bull possessed a multitude of núñez accidentals: berrendo en negro, axiblanco with a touch of girón and lucero. And at 582 kilos looked a much better candidate for the abattoir than the plaza de toros. Its weak legs did not prevent it from knocking the horse over, stumbling across the ring towards the reserve picador and coming back to the regulation horse to take a pic from between the rings. That dreadful suerte over, it stumbled in front of the banderilleros and could only take a few steps through Uceda’s honest attempts to pass it. I forgot to put into my list of his attributes that he is also an aged and wise professional. He spared us from much more pain by going for the real sword and killing the hulk with a media estocada. The bronca was not for him. His second bull, the fourth, was even bigger than his first, at 602 Kilos. It charged but did so without focus and erratically. It was scarcely picced and the banderillas were placed just because they had to be placed. That Uceda Leal’s trip to Zaragoza had been a waste of his time was proven in the few minutes of effort he expended in trying to get the statuesque bull to move. There were sparks of what might have been with a charging bull in one or two linked passes and in the depth and temple he achieved with a smattering of single pases, but the sum of his effort was failure. He placed his usually effective estocada a little too far forward and needed six descabellos to kill.

There were “¡Olé!”s of relief as Sebastián Castella welcomed his first with confident and beautifully composed verónicas. A decent push against a moderate pic, followed by a mere touch, kept hopes rising. The faena sent them in exactly the opposite direction. A couple of beautifully linked complete pases gave way to increasingly distant single ones with each hand as the bull’s ability to charge atrophied. Fortunately, there were not too many of them before Castella resorted to a few manoletinas and then killed with a low sword. “Oh, what a falling off was there!” The fifth Alcurrucén did have some strength, but not much. It was strong enough to take a couple of pathetically light pics in a chaotic suerte from which it twice emerged stumbling. Perhaps the fact that it was at the end of its fifth year and therefore a near geriatric had something to do with that. It recovered slightly to allow José Chacón and Luis Blázquez to place three great pairs and win salutes. This bull was not for providing toreo as art, but it was Castella’s last bull of the season and he wanted to do something with it. As he searched for appropriate cite positions and tried to drag pases from the stationary animal, he drove audience, bull, and probably himself, into a trance of boredom. His estocada was placed on a route taking him out and away from a dreadful experience.

Tomás Rufo is a youth on the rise and still approaches his toreo with determination and verve. He welcomed his first today with five verónicas, a media verónica and a larga, all done in a huge flourish. The bull was charging as a bull should in a manner we had almost forgotten. It was but a wakeup call for an animal that would soon fall back into a slumberous state. It refused to engage with the horse, so it was a surprise when Andrés Revuelta and Fernando Sánchez placed three pairs that won them salutes. Rufo was not going to let things collapse without trying hard to torear and he encouraged the bull with half a dozen slow doblones, its huge bulk scraping his vertical exit leg as it was gently drawn around. Rufo kept the bull in its comfort zone against the boards and persuaded it through a heap of long derechazos in tight terrain. It was brave and positive toreo, completed from cite positions between the horns, but could not last for long. He gave up at just the right time and killed with an estocada and six descabellos. He caught the sixth bull in a wild peregrination punctuated with complete verónicas, another sparkling start. As is quite normal in this first category plaza, the suerte de varas, such as it was, had a bull reluctantly taking light pics within the rings with no regard having been given to los reglamentos and leaving the encounter as soon as it could. The apology for a bull collapsed in the brega, yet charged for two and a half pairs of banderillas. Rufo persuaded it round that exit leg of his in five exquisite doblones before heading into a faena of derechazos. Rufo’s toreo, and at last we were watching toreo, is clear and organised. He finds the cite position quickly, crossing the line of charge; he offers the lure flat and enticing and draws the bull round with smooth and rhythmic movements fused with a personal style. He was less positive in getting to the cite position with the naturales, but, once there, his toreo with the left was just as complete. By the end, he had to resort to single derechazos en redondo with readjustments. No matter, we had seen some authentic toreo at last to a bull that needed exactly the kind of encouragement it got. His kill in the style of his friend, off a subtle curve, gave me an ironic twinge, but I joined the audience in getting him an ear. He had hardly saved the feria, but he had saved the day.

Zaragoza’s Feria del Pilar 2023 (Part I)

Jock Richardson

Zaragoza’s Feria del Pilar 2023 (Part II)

How many subalternos are needed for a corrida de toros?