Diego Urdiales - King of the North
Logroño’s feria, reduced nowadays to just four corridas (one of these rejoneo), may not have a lot going for it for non-local spectators, but one regular attraction there is Diego Urdiales, the 51-year-old matador from nearby Arnedo.
La Rioja does not have a great history as a major taurine centre, but Arnedo is an exception and Diego was a student at Arnedo’s escuela taurina from the age of 11 and debuted in his home town’s old plaza a year later (with the apodo Diego de Arnedo) before first appearing with picadors, again in Arnedo, in 1992 at the age of 16.
Diego Urdiales giving a manoletina to a novillo of Torrestrella (Arnedo, 1999)
I first came across him in Arnedo as a novillero, in which escalafón he spent six years, his contract numbers varying wildly from one year to the next, with no festejos at all in 1994. Four years later, he was awarded Arnedo’s prestigious ‘Zapato de Oro’ as the most impressive participant in the town’s September feria de novilladas, and, in August 1999, he took the alternativa in Dax.
His Madrid confirmación occurred two years later during one of the summer corridas at Las Ventas, and, other than Logroño, the main ferias did not begin to open up to him until 2008, his ninth season as a matador de toros. His first appearance in Sevilla didn’t come until 2010, by which time he had been the triunfador of Logroño’s feria several times, had a bull of Victorino Martín indultado there, and had won an ear in Madrid.
In addition to Logroño, another northern plaza, Bilbao, has been the scene of several Diego Urdiales triumphs; he has been carried out of Plaza Vista Alegre’s puerta grande on four occasions, thrice with bulls of Alcurrucén (2015, 2016 and 2018) and in 2025 after a terrific faena with a bull of Garcigrande, and has also fought bulls of Victorino Martín there seven times.
Urdiales is a classical torero with both capote and muleta, as well as being a superb swordsman, as the photos above and below show
Independently managed, Diego’s temporadas have tended to be up and down in terms of numbers of corridas, but he has gained a reputation as the toreros’ torero, with Curro Romero singing the riojano’s praises and El Viti commenting that anyone wishing to become a torero “should drink at the fount of Urdiales”. He has been looked on favourably in Madrid too, and has twice been carried out through the plaza’s Puerta Grande, most recently in May this year.
For me, Diego has been a case of ‘seek and ye shall find’, with trips to Navarra and La Rioja needed to reveal the matador at his best (although he was also very good at Sevilla last year). But television, streaming and videos increasingly mean travelling is not needed after all. A prime example has been the highlight videos of Urdiales’ performances at Logroño this year, particularly his second appearance (as a substitute for Morante) and his performance with a bull of Domingo Hernández on September 22 - see Diego Urdiales y el toreo como recuerdo | mundotoro.com . Watch how his verónicas gain in temple with each succeeding lance - both in the opening encounter with the bull and later in a quite. At the faena’s start, Diego is relying on his legs to prevent the bull overwhelming him, but, as the faena proceeds, so the matador becomes stiller and gives one majestic muletazo after another. The final natural is the best pass of the faena, one that few could better. The estocada, which lands caída, is fully committed, the sword buried to the hilt. All in all, this was a terrific performance, fully meriting the two ears awarded.