Las Corridas Generales - Bilbao 2025
Jock Richardson
The novilleros on Day Two walked to the plaza (Image from BMF)
Sunday 17 August: six erales of La Purisima for José María Rosado (Ronda), Manuel Quintana (Córdoba), Noel García (Salamanca), Diego Mateos (Salamanca), David Gutiérrez (Badajoz), and Clovis Germáin (Béziers)
The empresa BMF announced their new pattern for las Corridas Generales with a fanfare that sounded like the heralding of a triumph. They had, in fact, reduced this once great feria of six corridas, one corrida de rejones and a novillada to four corridas, una corrida mixta with one horse boy and two matadores on foot, and a novillada picada. Two clases prácticas constituting the semi-final and final of the 1V Memorial Iván Fandiño were thrown in fuera de abono and free for the few who wanted to see them. The only bulls the toristas would call duros were six Dolores Aguirres and, at a pinch, four la Quintas in la mixta. The remaining twenty-four announced were from ganaderías favoured by the figuras, filled with commercial genes.
There was no parade of aficionados from the big central hotels up the hill to Vista Alegre today as there used to be. We walked alone under a dismal darkening cloudscape to the once pristine, now dirty and decaying, former home of el toro de Bilbao. Entry was free so there was a fair smattering of youngsters; tattooed 20 and 30-year-olds; grannies, grandpas, uncles, aunts and siblings of toreros – with six on the card, that was enough to fill a tendido – and the ancient diehards who would not miss a taurine event their pensions and weak legs would allow them to reach. Maybe the fact that entry was free swelled their ranks somewhat. The entrada was no worse than could be expected for a sin-pics on a dull afternoon in which Athletic Bilbao were playing.
Despite the negative vibe, there was something comforting about taking one’s customary seat above the dark grey sand of Vista Alegre, or whatever they call it now, and hearing the strains of ‘Club Cocherito’ ring out again as the six youths crossed the sand.
The six novillos were from La Purisima, a ganadería belonging to the Baillères family, who have a hand in the running of the plaza in Bilbao. Of Núñez de Cuvillo origin, all, save one that was black, emerged in various shades of jabonero. Apart from serious weaknesses of the front legs, they were generally as to be expected – noble, compliant, and willing.
The fun in watching sin-pics competitions like this is to be had from trying to spot future figuras and trying to compare one’s own conclusions with those of the judges. The lads today came from schools across the Peninsula and from the South of France. Few of them had yet strayed far from the lessons learned at school: “A welcome a portagayola is a good idea; be careful not to get caught; keep the eral well away from your body; squeeze every pase from the animal that you can; do not forget the bernadinas or manoletinas near the end to keep the crowd interested; the public like toreo de rodillas; avoid going for the descabello, let the bull fall after the sword thrust no matter how long the wait.” None of our novilleros today was very different from the others.
José María Rosado is tall and managed a successful welcome a portagayola before some very clean and smooth verónicas. He always held the palillo at the end nearest his body and this, coupled with his enormous height and reach and constant abuse of the pico, kept him well apart from his eral. That did not prevent his early naturales from gradually morphing from the linear, through linked series, to pass and trot away single pases These despegados pases went on for some time until it was decided that Rosada should do some manoletinas and get finished. Those he duly did and killed with a three-quarters estocada. There was a petition by just under a majority. He was given an ear. The Presidencia for events like this is not the usual exigent Bilbao one.
Manuel Quintana lost his cape as he welcomed his eral with verónicas. He had it snatched from his hands again in the next set of retreating verónicas. This lad really looked insecure. Noel García, a last-minute replacement for one Fernando Venegas, engaged the eral in a quite of a verónica, a chicuelina and a larga. The novillo was a parcel of nobility and Quintana could have got close to it without too much danger. Instead, he chose to keep well fuera de cacho and to use his pico whenever he could, which was often, because he could not but give passes to this little charging machine. There were many of them with each hand, some rough, some smooth and templados. Perhaps it was the sheer quantity of material in the faena, and perhaps it was the brilliant series of five linked naturales and a chest pase that came at the end, but after an aviso and an estocada, he was awarded an ear. None of which could rub out the memory of a novillero desperate to keep out of harm’s way, even to the extent of retreating whenever the eral looked at him.
Noel García handled the cape well as he welcomed his eral, administering verónicas and chicuelinas with care and concentration. Unfortunately, he lost his calculated approach with the muleta, becoming rushed and allowing enganches in many of his pases. At least he gave us some variety: a molinete, an afarolado and some doblones with his knee to the ground. He entered to kill from exactly the right distance, made the cross accurately and placed an estocada hondo that failed to kill. He tried twice more with the same result and finally dispatched the eral with the descabello.
Diego Mateos a portagayola (Image from BMF)
Diego Mateos marched to la portagayola, failed to make the larga and lost equilibrium and capote in a single unfortunate moment. He had drawn a tricky beast. It chased the banderilleros with evil intent after each placement and concentrated on the torero’s body with threatening focus. That it had weak legs and tended to fall did not make Diego’s life any easier. Difficult things may have been, but the lad gradually taught the eral to charge, kept it on its feet and drew increasingly sustained, linked, and templados orthodox pases from it. In my opinion, he was the most developed torero of those we had so far seen. There were two pinchazos before a full estocada. An ear and a vuelta were just reward.
David Gutiérrez welcomed his eral with a long series of verónicas templadas and made his quite with a variety of lances before handing over to the French lad Clovis Germáin, who starred in some tafalleras. Gutiérrez was a whirlwind of flair, variety and spontaneity. His faena was a mixture of calculated distant pases, lost lures and sword, a catching in which it looked as if he was wrestling his eral into submission and a gradual settling into derechazos puros that brought ‘Nerva’ out of the excellent band. There was a nice derechazo, cambio de mano and chest pase near the end and a low sword immediately followed by a quick descabello and two ears.
Clovis Germáin (Image from BMF)
Clovis Germáin is from the school in Béziers and showed a nice understanding of the verónica as he welcomed his tricky, head lifting, soap coloured eral. It was weak, but that did not prevent another series of well-constructed verónicas and a suerte de banderillas in which the eral won: one in a toro pasado in a cuarteo; two sticks placed from way past the eral in another cuarteo; and a failed quiebro modified to another haphazard cuarteo. At least the boy tried. And he had to try hard to extract pases from an exhausted, falling, eral in the faena de muleta. Somehow, he managed it. His derechazos, gradually more linked and more templados, seemed to convince the eral that it could move despite its weaknesses. By the end, Clovis was in sufficient control to perform a brief arrimón in which his reversed cambiados circulares were convincing. It is a pity that he had to attempt the compulsory manoletinas; he lost his lure in them. He maintained his cool and placed an effective estocada that won him an ear.
Those who must select the winning pair for next Friday have a difficult job on their hands.
Monday 18 August: Six novillos of La Purisima for Sergio Sánchez, Javier Zulueta and Martín Morilla
Today, we had novillos from La Purisima again. Maybe keeping it in the house has something to do with don Dinero, though Juan Pablo Baillères cannot be short of a bob or two. We get what we get.
The first, a melocotón was solid, distracted, showed cowardly tendencies and was falling before the welcoming stage was over. Sergio Sánchez did rather well in his long controlling verónicas de rodillas and on foot considering the initial signs. Surprisingly, the novillo, which charged readily for its first pic, came very near to toppling horse and rider. It took a second long, low, pic with a will also. And then, reverted to type, started pawing the ground in front of the banderilleros and becoming erratic in the faena. As it started, Sánchez gave evidence of his maturity and knowledge in a series of linked derechazos full of style and skill. It is a pity he slipped fuera de cacho in mid faena because, when he passed the novillo closely, his work was beautifully measured and templado. He has a nice sense of where the correct cite distance is and exploited it in various series. He also demonstrated a pragmatic variety in appropriately placed reverse crculares, and closing bernadinas. He even managed to convert a disarming in a series of classical naturales into a desplante by catching the flying lure and standing with it in front of the parado novillo. Had he not placed a bajonazo before his immaculate estocada, he would have cut an ear.
Javier Zulueta (Image from BMF)
Javier Zulueta has been around for a while now, and it shows. But not at first; his welcoming verónicas were rushed, and he lost his lure in one. The novillo behaved well enough in a moderate and a light pic, in a series of slow, tight and beautiful chicuelinas from Morilla, and in a pleasing suerte de banderillas, but it was half way through the faena before Zulueta caught the rhythm of the charges and, having adjusted to it, got the head out of the pico into la panza de la muleta and started to build a calculated piece of work in which series of derechazos and naturales were paramount. This orthodox phase was great, but the transmission was heightened by variety and spontaneity: kikirikís, pases por alto y por bajo and some ayudados por alto to end. Although the novillo’s front feet were spread apart, he sank an estocada to the hilt and earned an ear.
The third bull had a strange colouring: negro listón, bragado, meano, axiblanco and gargantillo all giving it a slightly greyish appearance. Weak-legged, distracted, and slow to move, it pushed against a first low, hard, pic and a light one from the keeper of the gate. Sergio Sánchez’s quite of verónicas was a small but welcome success. The calm derechazos and pases cambiados with which Morilla started his faena were a hopeful sign: long, templados and almost linked. The rest of the faena unfolded in series of pases with each hand started from well-chosen cite positions and built into convincing series with temple and rhythm. This was just the sort of thing this relatively unpractised novillero needed and it was good for the audience also. And things remained at that high level as the faena unfolded. Morilla demonstrated a great sense of finding the correct cite distance, and, as the work - comprised of series of linked derechazos and naturales, all smooth, serene and fitted to the rhythm of the novillo - progressed, he would rest the novillo, then walk down the line of charge, stop at exactly the spot at which the animal would charge and build his nicely constructed effort. All good things must come to an end, they say. This one collapsed in the kill: two pinchazos entered directly but without forming the cross, an estocada atravesada y baja, and nine attempts with the descabello, took him past the second aviso and on to the first steps to a pedestrian exit from the plaza.
Martín Morilla (Image from BMF)
Sánchez strode to the bullpen gate and plunked himself down for a portagayola. ‘Atrevido’, 495 kilos of athletic novillo, ran past him in a perfectly straight line without apparently noticing him or his cape. A series of rough chicuelinas at least slowed the bull down. Distracted in the brega, the novillo worked hard at the horse and almost threw it to the ground in a pic placed too far back and took a light one placed halfway down its side. There was a close series of chicuelinas and a beautiful larga from Zulueta in his quite. A series of derechazos de rodillas were linked and templados; so were the pedestrian ones before Sánchez lost his lure. The novillo was slowing down and things began to fall apart. There was a series of derechazos, technically and artistically rising in a crescendo to the chest pase, when there was an enormous enganche. Why Sánchez stood in front of the novillo and threw his sword away, he must know; it looked as unnecessary as it was stupid to me. Once collected, he lost any chance of a trophy with a pinchazo, four descabellos and an estocada desprendida.
The fifth novillo, ‘Gallardo’, weighed 460 Kg and was another melocotón. Zulueta welcomed it with three spectacular, beautifully timed, largas, and it took a couple of light pics. Morilla made a quite of close, flat and templadas delantales – it is a lance that he performs very well – and after a nondescript second suerte, Zulueta tried to make a faena. It was no easy task because the novillo had become hesitant and weak to the point of falling. Despite the it’s unpromising state, Javier was not about to give up. It is greatly to his credit that he squeezed every pass the novillo had in it from its reluctant frame. Many of them were single derechazos or naturales with the necessary punctuating trots, but by sheer focus and will, he achieved several linked and serene series. He never took his eyes from the horns; never flinched when things went awry, and, right to a painstaking alignment, he was a man dedicated to his task. He entered directly and placed an estocada from which the novillo soon fell. The petition did not quite achieve a majority, but the ovation was unanimous.
‘Acertijo’ was a castaño like its relatives but somehow looked trimmer in the figure. The welcome of six flat and flowing delantales, the novillo following entranced, were a joy to watch. The novillo ended en sitio before the horse more by luck than good guidance, but it did take a long pic willingly, before skidding along the ground in the brega and leaving the mere touch of the second encounter quickly. That this was a distracted and recalcitrant novillo was soon clear. Carlos Ruiz and Felipe Peña worked a miracle by getting farpas into the by now almost stationary animal. It went well enough in Morilla’s opening cambiadas and high derechazos but his pico-laden distant derechazos were harder to get. The bull’s very short charges, head lifts upwards, and the ugly movements between pases, made it all very rough. To his credit, Martín achieved some linkage and demonstrated a commitment to his task throughout. His killing problems hit him once more after the faena. Four pinchazos, all low and each delivered off a curve, led to some audience discontent and a great deal of silence.
Tuesday 19 August: Six bulls of Dolores Aguirre for Damián Castaño, Juan Leal and Jesús Enrique Colombo
The ring had dried to a lighter grey and the sky was very slightly brighter; there were also rather more people in the plaza than in previous years for the Dolores Aguirres. Could things be improving in Bilbao?
The first Dolores Aguirre was 548 Kg of colorado bull with the name ‘Yegüizo’. It stopped in front of a burladero and did the same in los tercios, looking distracted and confused. Castaño got it going in half a dozen careful but serene verónicas and ended the series with an epic media verónica. Castaño is an expert at showing off bulls’ characters en varas. He gives them distance from which to charge, sometimes at or beyond los medios, and time to focus on the horse. Three times, ‘Yegüizo’ was placed, the third time on el platillo with a larga, and three times it charged. The first pic was left promptly; it pushed hard in the second and the third, trasera and light, was a token. All three charges were magnificent. Juan Leal gave it half the ring to charge across for his impressive quite of verónicas and a larga. Having cooperated in the second suerte, the bull continued to charge in a rare demonstration of strength, commitment and nobility. Nobody on earth can torear a Dolores Aguirre as Castaño can. As the faena progressed, the bull developed a tendency to lift the right or left horn upwards in mid pase. Castaño was wise to the idiosyncrasy and only twice was touched by a horn in the armpit. The rest was a compact, beautifully constructed faena of orthodox pases punctuated by rest periods that allowed the bull to charge into each series from huge distances. The pases were long and circular, the temple and positioning perfect and everyone was caught up in the magic. The lethal left horn did not mar the final ayudados por alto one bit and the estocada was entered for perfectly. Why Matías waited until the bull was on the threshold of the patio de arrastre before showing the blue handkerchief, he will know; and he will know why he only gave Castaño one ear. The aficionado of the authentic bull and the technically perfect matador will wait a long time to see the likes of this again.
Damián Castaño with his second ‘Yegüizo’ (Image from BMF)
The ‘Yegüizo’ in fourth place did not fall far short of its namesake for bravery and committed performance; it was a little more complicated in its behaviour. Castaño fixed it quickly with low verónicas and walked it abaniqueando to the precise place for a charge into a long low puyazo. The second charge from los medios was epic, as was the similar one for the third pic. Two atanasios, six great attacks and six pics. Some modern bulls are authentic toros bravos. This one continued to cooperate in a fine suerte de banderillas and Castaño, short of stature, huge of heart, kept his montera firmly placed for his second faena. The first series of derechazos, started after one of these long Lipperhide charges, was a little rough, but the second was smooth as silk and the exquisite pase por bajo, left from in a stooped tripping departure, was pure Damián Castaño. There was another epic series with the right before frontally cited naturales in series that became decreasingly linked. That the bull was exerting its authority was even clearer when it nearly caught the matador. All of which led to a shaky end of two three-quarter swords, on the second of which Castaño injured his hand. One of the pinchazos was lethal and the bull dropped without Castaño having to kill with the wounded hand. The ear and the main gate had been lost; the saludos were unanimous and heartfelt; and Castaño’s position as ‘torero de Bilbao’ was more firmly cemented than ever.
Juan Leal is no stranger to difficult bulls. His first proved difficult to fix after it entered and its cowardly, distracted nature was clear. It did take a couple of pics with a little effort, but it sowed havoc in banderillas. At one point, nine peones were running round the ring like a flock of those gifted congratulatory chickens that sometimes are thrown into the arena. Leal demonstrated his credentials in the faena. His derechazos and naturales grew in length, linkage and depth as the faena progressed, and, for a time, he looked confident and natural. His final series of naturales were as surprising as they were satisfying. He threw himself over the horns with feet flying and his body almost horizontal and placed a pinchazo trasero. The miracle he had wrought fizzled like a damp Roman candle into another pinchazo and 10 descabellos.
‘Llorón’, 593 kilos, emerged to a Juan Leal bravely positioned a portagayola. The larga worked, but the toro stopped very short after it and sowed confusion. Leal showed that he did not quite have the measure of the bull yet in a rushed varied series of a verónica, a tafallera and a media verónica. La suerte de varas was chaotic: a light pic from a charge from los tercios; a long pic from the reserve picador; and a moderate pic willingly taken after a charge from out of sitio. Juan Leal was about to undergo an examination for which he was not prepared. The bull tended to stop short, hook upwards in mid pase, and wander off whenever the lure was moved from its vision. A brief session of machateo and a kill might have been the wise medicine. Not for the indominatable Juan Leal. The opening derechazos and pases de espaldas against the boards, though given with much cape and towel assistance from either end, were quite elegant, but the unpredictable behaviour of the bull soon forced Juan into defensive use of the pico and much more dodging than dominating. The short charges of the bull lent themselves to close, tight, arrimón and Leal resorted to that; his lure was soon snatched away. There was a pinchazo and a chaos of cape snatching from twisting peones before four descabellos. Such things are not unexpected with doloresaguirres.
The third matador today was Jesús Enrique Colombo. He started well with the third bull, ‘Carafea’, another common Dolores Aguirre name. His opening delantales were calculated smooth and complete, an exquisite opening that could have been ended with other than the daft larga he tried to execute. The suerte de varas was disorganised, a pity because with bulls such as these, they can be wonderful. The charges were short, the pics low and, apart from the second, brief. Colombo places the banderillas, often in a flamboyant and convincing way. ‘Carafea’’s character allowed none of that, Colombo missed in his first attempt; his second cuarteo was placed muy a toro pasado; his al violín stuck in the end of a previously placed banderilla; and his final al violín was a desperate token. He tried to bring the bull under control with some knee-down pases por bajo that merely demonstrated that the bull had an injured leg. An estocada vertical ended the disaster.
Poor Colombo had to face another ‘Carafea’ in sixth place. It was another unfocussed, short charging, tío of a bull. It worked hard in the first pic, nearly knocking horse and rider over. It charged for a second pic from out of position and took another fierce puyazo. The banderillas were a mirror image of those to the third bull; placed, but badly placed. Colombo was not about to surrender, but the condition of ‘Carafea’ would beat him in the end. He tried hard to draw pases from the bull and there were some early doblones, a molinete and a chest pase in which it charged nobly. It was a false dawn; there were some more pases, won where the bull led Colombo, before the animal stopped in mid pase and hooked or ran out before a proper remate. To create a faena with this bull was not worth the effort because it was not going to happen. Colombo went on and on trying to make something of the situation. Even he eventually realised that an end was nigh and, after an age trying to align the bull, he placed a successful estocada.
Wednesday 20 August: Two bulls of Fermín Bohórquez for Guillermo Perez de Mendoza and four of La Quinta for Emilio de Justo and Borja Jiménez.
I have noted the negative assessment of my last report on rejoneo and decided that, if I report things as I see them and having studied what I report upon with all possible diligence, I am being honest and have no reason to give up trying to inform our readers of what I see happening in the bullrings. If what I see differs from one man’s happy experience of one afternoon, so be it. I always lock what I take as abusive remarks in my baúl de los malos recuerdos alongside all the other junk that has been thrown at me over the years and continue to try to inform others of what is going on as honestly as I can interpret it.
Today, we had Guillermo Pérez de Mendoza. He stopped his first mobile toro with a series of circular rides and placed his first rejón de castigo a cuarteo. His second, de frente por afuera, was excellently placed at the stirrup and with the arm horizontal. There was some customary crowd milking with rejoneador and bull in different areas of the ring before another placement, this time of a banderilla de frente por afuera with the toro at his stirrup. His succeeding cuarteos had the banderillas placed accurately, but the bull fell after the third. It took him four entries before he got his first rose placed, but his two banderillas cortas were accurately done. He finished his actuación with a metisaca and a rejonazo to win an ovation. It had been a clean, orthodox, and methodical demonstration of rejoneo and was none the worse for that.
Guillermo Pérez de Mendoza placing a rosa (Image from BMF)
The fourth bull, ‘Vejoso’, weighed 588 kilos. It charged well enough as Guillermo placed his first rejón de castigo in the correct place. His circular ride to parar the bull was accurate and pleased the crowd. His second rejón was marred when it broke and fell from his hand. The bull was slowing down, but Guillermo and ‘Berlin’ encouraged it into mendocinas in both directions along many degrees at the boards. It seems that he has inherited his father’s skill with the manoeuvre. The bull had taken up a querencia near the boards, which, because he was able to draw the animal from it, made his work the more meritorious. There was a quiebro de dentro, a great placement de dentro por afuera and a great pair placed accurately without reins with both hands. The rejón de muerte was placed whilst against the boards and was of immediate effect. Unsurprisingly, he was awarded an ear. We had witnessed a demonstration of rejoneo that was clean, classical and accurate without a trace of histrionics. The public seemed to enjoy it as much as those who love the rejoneo circus.
‘Navarrito’, the first la Quinta, was alert and searching, so the careful verónicas with which Emilio de Justo welcomed it were just right. He placed it accurately en sitio before the horse with verónicas and a recorte and it took a moderate pic pushing. The quite was a joy: close flowing chicuelinas ended with a larga to replace the toro before the horse. The pic was light and the banderillas, excepting a fine pair from Morenito de Arles, nondescript. What transpired was strange. Emilio de Justo built a faena of right-handed pases to a bull that gradually lost the few grains of aggression with which it was born, and, despite the completeness and beauty of his work, neither crowd nor bull seemed interested; the absence of transmission was laden with doom. At least it was recognised that de Justo had done his best and he was given an ovation.
De Justo was even worse served by his second bull, a la Quinta devoid of character or aggression. From the start, the lances were tentative and experimental: verónicas encouraging interest from the toro and chicuelinas from which it tended to escape. It did accept a couple of moderate pics, and it did charge the banderilleros, but by then it had had enough. Emilio tried hard to encourage the unenthusiastic beast and, for a time as it cooperated in some pure, clean, linked derechazos, it looked as if we might enjoy a faena. The hope was soon extinguished, and as de Justo tried to extract derechazos and naturales from his moribund toro, everything went flat. De Justo drifted out of the killing encounter but managed to place an estocada.
Borja Jiménez is flavour of the last few months and had a triumph here last year. ‘Molinero’, 575 kilos of la Quinta, stumbled through five testing verónicas. It left its pics quickly and behaved decently for the banderilleros. But it was an empty shell of a toro and an interminable succession of single derechazos was not going to alter that. Borja did try, but soon gave up, placed an estocada and was cheered for what he had done.
Borja Jiménez with ‘Tapaboca’ (Image from BMF)
Bull number six was ‘Tapaboca’, a beautiful cárdeno, in appearance un toro de Bilbao. It charged into Jiménez’s testing verónicas with a will. My notes, written as events unfolded, record the suerte de varas thus:
“Light at front from a solid entry.”
“Pushes, but there is no pic.”
That did not seem important as I wrote it. The quite was a close succession of smooth and sustained chicuelinas, the bull charging nobly. It also charged well in a successful suerte de banderillas. Borja gave it plenty of distance to charge for his opening derechazos and they unfolded in a perfect tanda of derechazos puros: every phase of the pase complete; the cargar de la suerte obvious; the linking smooth and almost imperceptible; the remates precise. He inserted a breathtaking pase por bajo into the next perfect series of derechazos and, after resting ‘Tapaboca’, performed another similar series. The toreo of Borja Jimenez has always brought to my mind that of Espartaco, a man with complete knowledge of bulls and toreo. But for me, Espartaco was “una machina de torear”, calculation rather than creativity. With this bull, Borja Jiménez was without a trace of the industrial. All was smooth, serene and natural. The bull, on the other hand, was a machine, “una machina de embistir”. And as for transmission! As the faena built into the intensity of series after series of naturales, bull, matador and audience were encapsulated as one in a single experience of pure toreo. There was a cheeky pase por alto after one series that proved that Borja was human and two more series, one each of derechazos and naturales. By the end, the cites were precise, the pases were low, the bull’s muzzle scraping the ground and all was templado, templado. What could burst this perfect capsule of perfect toreo? The crowd that knew neither the reglamentos nor how to judge a toro bravo might be forgiven for asking for the indulto; Matías González Calvo should have known better. Maybe he did and feared a breakdown of public order if he obeyed his conscience. For whatever reason, he threw over the orange pañuelo for a bull that had not shown, “excelente comportamiento en todas las fases de la lidia sin excepción”. We had seen the first indulto ever in Bilbao, whether it was deserved or not. Borja Jiménez certainly deserved his two symbolic ears and his main gate.
Thursday 21 August: Six bulls of Victoriano del Río for Juan Ortega, Roca Rey and Pablo Aguado
Juan Ortega’s first bull was a big, black toro of 596 Kilos, rather a weight for a bull of Juan Pedro descent, I think. The early verónicas were clean and confident, and the bull took two pics willingly. Roca Rey’s quite of close verónicas and a media were just as clean and confident. Unfortunately, the bull lost its initial benevolence quickly, and by the time the banderilleros went to work, it was searching and malevolent. They did well to get two and a half pairs placed. Ortega opened with his characteristic doblones; it is a pase at which he is well practised, and he brings the bull round in a beautifully timed, strong, yet gentle, curve. He did that today. Then things fell apart. The pases became distant, and though there were plenty of them and some variety in a jerky molinete, and one series of derechazos with two fine looking chest pases, even that failed to transmit. The fact that Ortega did not seem to wish to commit himself to keeping the bull’s attention, or persuade the audience that he had an interest in creating toreo, left things feeling flat. The bull soon wandered off to los chiqueros, heavy and rajado, where Ortega laboured to align and kill it with a metisaca, two pinchazos and a bajonazo off a great circular entry.
Unfortunately for Juan Ortega, for the audience and for the bull, ‘Armero’ was a halt and searching animal that was not the ideal material for a fragile Sevillian artist matador. Ortega was dancing away from it as soon as it entered the ring. His lances were tentative, distant and so rough that the bull snatched his cape from his hands. Oscar Bernal tried to bring the flailing head down with a low pic so brutal that the bull’s survival was a miracle. The second pic was ferocious also. ‘Armero’ shrugged it all off and led the banderilleros a merry dance as they bravely completed their suerte. The toro was exigent without a doubt. As Ortega tried to torear, it discomfited him severely by turning back very quickly at the ends of his unfinished pases. His one attempt at torear was a lightening quick attempt at some of his low, sometimes but not today, controlling, knee-down doblones. He was probably wise to take the real sword, place a bajonazo atravesado and settle for a bronca.
I had a report the other day that I was being quoted in America for once calling the toreo of Roca Rey, “pure circus”. It is true that I did that and meant it. But that was at least three years ago. Roca Rey has changed and so has my assessment of the toreo I have often seen him perform recently. He has matured, quietened down and tended a considerable distance towards the seriously classical. Good for him, I say. His opening to his first bull was spasmodic and a little wild. He put it en sitio before the horse properly twice and it took two light pics, one low and the other en las agujas. The bull responded well to the banderilleros and Roca Rey burst into favour with pases de espaldas, pases por alto, a cambio de mano and a chest pase, everything close, sewn together and guaranteed to please. It is true that the bull was being helpful; but a helpful bull needs intelligent toreo. The virtue of what followed was that the pases were clean, calculated, close and sewn together without the least break in rhythm. His early naturales were not quite ended properly, so the linked flow dissipated for a while. That did not last for long and Roca Rey and his super noble Victoriano del Río moved together in perfect series of derechazos. He did not have to perform bernadinas, the bull was toreado, he was on form, and the kill would have been opportune. What he achieved with them was an aviso before an estocada hasta la bola. He was given one ear, but Matías used his brains in judgement and denied the second.
Roca Rey “toreando like an archangel” (Image from BMF)
Roca Rey went to la portagayola to greet his second bull. My notes say, “Is he desperate?” He had no reason to be so. Pablo Aguado had done some highly creditable work and Juan Ortega had done nothing while Roca Rey had been toreando near the summit. I have watched Roca Rey boy and man in the flesh and on TV since he was working with novillos in Algemesí. This was the first time I had seen him go to the bullpen gate. The bull jumped over him, he lost his lure and, as was proved later, his leg was injured. That did not stop him performing a larga cambiada en las tablas that was a success. There was a lightening series of close verónicas and cheers that could have been heard by acute listeners in San Sebastián. Roca Rey could have done anything now. There was a light pic well placed and a measured one after a long and noble charge, while Pablo Aguado proved the bull’s noble credentials with three chicuelinas and a media verónica so clean, calculated and serene that he also reached the summit. To add to the joy of the event, Viruta and Fernando Sánchez placed three pairs of banderillas stroking perfection. As I have written, Roca Rey could have done anything now. What he did do was characteristic: a series of pases de espaldas and derechazos on his knees. That was all very well as an opening, but he moved to another level when the faena really got under way. Citing from a great distance to open his series, once he had the bull captured, he was toreando with a rare naturalness. By the time he had performed thee perfect series, we might have felt surfeited. Maybe he sensed that because into the fourth tanda he threw in some ayudados, and a kikirikí before the chest pase. That this was tense, transfixing toreo was beyond doubt. As the trumpet solo of ‘Er Mundo’ rang out, the tension was as thick as East Coast haar. The bull was indefatigable, the torero limping on the crest of his wave, the toreo was magnificent and the crowd on their feet. There were some nice ayudados with a farol injected to end and an estocada to the hilt. I used to call Roca Rey a clown, and maybe I will again: today I saw him torear like an archangel. Maybe Matias shared the view: he threw the two hankies over simultaneously. He did not need the crowd to realise that two ears were a just reward
Pablo Aguado’s first bull was noble, and he detected the fact early. It was an ideal colleague for this king of clock-stopping temple. He welcomed it with serene, functional verónicas and ensured that it was treated lightly in varas: One moderate and one light after slow and perfectly shaped delantales. Juan Ortega did his best work of the afternoon in his quite. ‘Misterio’ cooperated with the banderilleros also. Aguado’s main virtue is his ability to match the movement of his lures to those of the bull and to do so with an artlessness that is pure art of the most unaffected type. He is, as he was with this bull, toreando como se es. The faena was based almost entirely on naturales. They were gradually brought lower and lower, and by mid faena they had taken on a dream-like quality that could not fail to entrance. He tripped in front of the bull once. It made no attempt to attack, waiting for him to get up and invite it to charge again. His cite positions were brilliantly chosen and his desplantes appropriate but not overdone. The coda of a pase por bajo and a chest pass led seamlessly to an estocada en las agujas and an ear.
Natural from Pablo Aguado (Image from BMF)
That not all Victoriano del Ríos are faultless figura fodder Pablo Aguado was to find with his sixth toro. ‘Frambuesa’ went well enough in Aguado’s welcoming verónicas, and, after kind treatment in the pics, was so direct that Iván García and Sánchez Araujo had to accept saludos. It went downhill physically and Aguado became cautious rather than assured. His attempt to make a faena was sincere and honest, but a weak and shortly exhausted bull soon dragged him into the pegging of pases up against the boards. It was a sad ending to a great corrida and one that involved two pinchazos and 10 descabellos to close. Nothing could take away the memory of three fine bulls and three fine performances by their matadors.
Friday 22 August (Matinal): four erales for Manuel Quintana and David Gutiérrez in the final of the Iván Fandiño Memorial competition
In happier days before the pandemic struck and las Corridas Generales shrunk in the hands of BMF into a small-town feria, this competition was held outside Aste Nagusia. Indeed, it often afforded mal educados bullfight fans to dodge the horse boys in Santander and enjoy some youngsters competing in honest pedestrianism. BMF have found another use for it.
Manuel Quintana and David Gutiérrez had won their way to the final.
Even though Quintana tended to torear his first from a huge lateral distance with much use of the pico, he was caught early in a faena of right and left-handed pases with little linkage and many enganches. And his estocada was low. It seems right that the audience be generous in events such as this and those present today were just that. Quintana was given plenty of encouragement and an ovation at the end.
Manuel Quintana (Image from BMF)
His second adversary took an upward trajectory. It was a more cooperative eral, but he took a while to find that out. He looked cautious in his clean opening verónicas. Gutiérrez was equally unsure and lost his cape in his quite of delantales. The animal charged the banderilleros nobly and Quintana opened his faena with a series of long round derechazos that would have done a far more experienced torero than he proud. If only he had gone on like that. The middle stage of his work developed with him spending much time on retreat and, when not running away, keeping the eral well off his body by misusing the pico. Somehow, that changed towards the end, and he started to adopt a more taurine cite position and inject more torería into his work. A brave series of derechazos, like his first had been, with a couple of beautifully formed and placed pases por alto in the middle, closed the faena and a rapidly entered attack with the sword en corto y por directo won him an ear.
On today’s performance, David Gutiérrez suggested that he is a more florid torero than Quintana. His welcoming verónicas, ended with a larga, were elevating. Quintana cited for his quite from a distance, the novillo thundered towards him, caught his cape and fell. And it fell all over the place in banderillas as well; rather than go on with the difficult suertes, the president merely changed the tercio. The novillo, slower now, rushed to a querencia from which, wisely noticing the fact, Gutiérrez enticingly walked it. He was equally sensible to keep the animal with falling tendencies on its feet with light, medium height, derechazos and naturales, mostly despegados but in spasms, close, en redondo and templados. There was a nicely performed afarolado in the middle of one series. This remarkably clever faena was ruined by a bajonazo metisaca entered for directly from the correct distance. The ovation was enthusiastic.
David Gutiérrez (Image from BMF)
There was a good deal of action in Gutiérrez’s second performance also. The novillo ran away from half-way through his first verónica and he ran away when it went for him in the second. The dancing verónicas and delantales that followed were those of a lad desperate to please with a weak and unenthusiastic adversary. Quintana verified its lack of taurine credentials with a quite of ragged, low verónicas and the peones had a difficult task. In a faena of pases like those he had achieved with his first novillo, Gutiérrez tried very hard. And he did manage several well-cited and complete linked series with each hand. Bearing in mind the nature of the novillo, he did very well to bring it to la hora de verdad. He was not to enter until he was satisfied with the alignment, and he took ages to prepare his eral. He heard two avisos in the interval between his pinchazo and his low half sword and finally lost the competition 33 seconds before he would have lost the novillo to the bullpens, after a series of seven descabellos.
These competitions are difficult to judge. My impression was that, despite giving heart and soul to their work, Quintana, the winner, and Gutiérrez, the runner up, had done little to perpetuate the memory of Iván Fandiño, and that BMF had served neither the taurine schoolboys, Iván Fandiño or their clients. It was some consolation that we had got in for free. Quintana and Gutiérrez will get to fight it out again next Saturday in the final of Fomento de la Cultura Taurina en Andalucía in Villacarrillo (Jaén). Keep an eye on that one. [At Villacarrillo, Quintana beat Gutiérrez into second place. The winner was Javier Torres Bombita from Ubrique’s escuela taurina. - TW]
Friday 22 August (Tarde): Six bulls of Garcigrande for Diego Urdiales, Alejandro Talavante and Borja Jiménez.
It is many years now since Diego Urdiales was called from la Rioja at around lunchtime and offered a substitution here. Then, as now, he answered the call and was in Bilbao by six o’ clock. He saved the feria then and has done so several times since. The Choperas and Co sometimes give him a place on the carteles. But not this year. He had to wait until Morante was too ill to come to get the substitution.
Diego Urdiales has a tough furrow to plough. He is 34th in the escalafón with 8 corridas; Talavante is 2nd with 41 and Borja Jiménez 4th with 36. Both of the latter far surpass his ear per bull total. He may have counted himself lucky to get his late invitation.
We had breakfast with a friend on the morning of the 21st, shortly after we knew that Urdiales was coming. “We will have a corrida of three styles”, said he. We did not discuss the styles, but there is no doubt that we would see three very different toreros. In my opinion, we would have in Urdiales a seasoned torero with a determination to perform toreo puro in every detail, exposing himself to achieve it and never losing sight of los cánones; a flamboyant artist with a copious repertoire and a tremendous will to please in Talavante; and a young man with many of the characteristics of a torero from his home town whose influence as a torero largo with tremendous knowledge of toros y toreo is obvious in his manner in Borja Jiménez.
When ‘Bárbaro’ arrived, the suertes de varas and banderillas had none of the virtues mentioned above. The bull was placed between the rings for the first vara and Pedro Iturralkde carefully blocked its exit; the second entry was from a proper placement but was light; the brega in banderillas was far too chaotic and Pirri placed the only noteworthy pair. When Urdiales challenged the bull, things changed. Once, during the great cargar la suerte debate that engaged many anglophone aficionados a few years ago, I was delighted when, at a Club Cocherito colloquio in Bilbao, Carlos Ilera described the toreo of Urdiales as, “Siempre, Siempre, cargando la suerte.” He certainly did that with ‘Bárbaro’. His first series of naturales set the scene for the faena, cited from on the line of charge, the lure offered flat and forward and the pases continued through cite, cargar la suerte and the final remate of a chest pase in a rhythmic movement so natural that it was perfection made to look easy. One only needs to reflect on how seldom such toreo is seen to realise how difficult it must be. The two series of derechazos that stirred the band (borrowed from somewhere else because the Ayuntamiento will not have the town band play in the BMF bullring) into ‘Tercio de Quites’ were identically complete and natural. It will be remembered how this bull had shown cowardly tendencies in both varas and banderillas. That Urdiales was able to keep it entranced for so long was a miracle. To seal the greatness of the commencement of the faena, there was a brilliant series of naturales, complete as had been the right handers in every respect. It had all been as much as the Barbarian could tolerate and its charges became reluctant and short as its halting hooks caught the lure sometimes. The collapse of transmission from ring to tendido was palpable. The estocada delantera was placed off a huge curve and the petition just did not reach a majority. The ovation was a correct response to an egg that had become addled.
Diego Urdiales with ‘Guapetón’ (Image from BMF)
Pepé Luis Vázquez, it was reported somewhere, said that the bulls should be treated as if they were made of glass. One presumes he meant handled with care, lightly shifted and always with great attention, and never subjected to rapid movements. I doubt that Diego Urdiales ever heard that. It is how he dealt with ‘Guapetón’; a bull as well designed for perfect toreo as had been its matador. The first pic was taken parallel to the horse, was firm but drew little blood; the second was light, but the bull was pushed to los medios with the pic in place. Unharmed, it passed through an ordinary second suerte and rose to greatness in the gently smooth and almost linked derechazos of the master. It and the faena took off in the first series of naturales. The eternal canons of toreo applied with naturalness, serenity, rhythm, cadence and correct positioning are the ingredients of pure toreo. Diego Urdiales has shown them all in Bilbao repeatedly (I have seen every occasion since 2011). With ‘Guapetón’, he did it in two series of naturales, four of derechazos, with infrequent insertions of a molinete, circulares and serene but accurate ayudados por bajo to align the bull without fuss at precisely the correct time – toreo puro does not need frills. His estocada was perfect also and Matías added sensibility to sense by immediately throwing over both pañuelos at once to claim the award of the second ear for himself. Once again, one of the few authentic toreros of the past 50 years had won the main gate in Bilbao. What a pity it is that so few get to see him.
‘Comunista’ was an attractive toro negro burraco listón of 580 kilos. It charged strongly in Talavante’s welcoming flat verónicas and a media, then took two firm pics from proper placements, between which Borja Jiménez performed a super-close series of slow chicuelinas full of merit and torería. The derechazos of Talavante taking the toro to los medios were as light as air, as smooth as velvet, and as complete as a Keats’s sonnet, Talvante at his aethereal best. The huge pase en redondo that followed was a bit more down to earth and the inserted molinete a nice Talavante touch. Essentially, that was that. The bull slowed down into recalcitrance, Talavante’s efforts to make toreo became less successful, and all the electric transmission of the commencement disappeared. There were some hard-won derechazos and molinetes, infinite tight circulares and an estocada tendida that came out of the bull’s side before a well-entered estocada. The first sword thrust ensured the rewarding silence.
Alejandro Talavante in a kikirikí (Image from BMF)
Plenty get to see Alejandro Talavante, and he works mighty hard to entertain. His welcome to his second bull was an explosion after the classical calm of Diego Urdiales. Afarolados, verónicas, chicuelinas and three largas, all done on the spot, made the nightly show on the Nervión look like the mini fireworks the children in the Levante throw at passing tourists. Beautifully placed in position, the bull accepted two light pics and allowed Talavante a walking pilgrimage of chicuelinas back to sitio for the second before it made sterling charges to Lili and Manuel Izquierdo in two good pairs. The overture to the faena was a risky set of pases de rodillas from which he climbed out like a recently fallen grandfather with an “I’m, all right`” smile. The toro had had enough of this athletic workout and showed its true character as a noble, slow charging, manso with very little energy left. Talavante is a hard man to beat, and he put his all into encouraging the animal. He tried some luquesinas, citing from between the horns, and an extended arrimón of tight, low, derechazos millimetres from the toro as it spiralled round him. This was not the sort of thing for toreo profundo fans, but the majority loved it and had no doubt in awarding him an ear – neither did the president.
I lost the first faena of Borja Jiménez. On Wednesday, a young woman had arrived in the vomitorium platform of pares de Tendido 5 just below our abono, set up a huge camera that blocked the view of the suerte de varas which happens just below where we and a group of vara aficionados sit. I was not elected to go down and shift her, but having done so, became quite the hero of the tendido. Borja Jiménez must have been the target because it was a young man and his camera who arrived today. This time I was elected by acclaim to get him moved. His height and bulk, my seventy years’ start on him in life, my Spanish - which is good enough to read corrida reports, buy G and T, but ill-developed for serious arguments - and his inability to tell me who his jefe was, ensured complete failure to get him moved and to see the faena of Borja Jiménez. Neighbours and friends assured me that I had not missed much. He had tried to produce fireworks with a bull that was not bred for them: a portagayola, a larga at the boards, and a faena that tried strongly to extract pases from a reluctant bull. After it was over, there was silence.
Borja did not have much luck with his second bull either. He was off to la portagayola again for a larga cambiada, well clear of the bull’s body, and some low verónicas in a serious attempt to focus the attention of the fleeing animal. Chaos reigned en varas, we watching it by swaying from side to side like spectators at Wimbledon, as the bull went first to the reserve picador and secondly to an accidental encounter with el de turno before a final pic from the proper place that was ordered, as had been those to ‘Tapabocas’ on Wednesday, to be light by Borja. The amazing series of derechazos with which Borja opened his faena made the bull look good, as did a series of naturales started with a phenomenal pase de espaldas. These pases were close, complete and well-timed, and the bull responded well. It could not keep it up and, after a couple of rough series of naturales, a rest period for the bull, and an attempt at derechazos, he killed the bull to more silence.
I have long held the opinion that we should be thankful for the corridas and individual performances that do not please us. They prove how difficult it is to bring a toreable bull and a torero on form together to produce the authentic arte de toreo. This corrida had given us a bit of everything and had been wonderful on any scale of value.
Saturday 23 August: Six bulls of Fuente Ymbro for Paco Ureña, Fortes and Fernando Adrián
Barquerito, that most honest of taurine reporters, had a column in El Correo this morning laying out the success that Ricardo Gallardo has had with his Fuente Ymbros this year: 40 bulls in first category plazas. They have done rather well, and we had seen several of the lidiable ones. All of which whetted further the appetite for today’s corrida and strengthened the conviction that la Corridas Generales 2025 would end on a high note.
But La Fiesta de Toros gives neither the hoped for nor the expected.
The first Fuente Ymbro lived up to its name as it entered. ‘Histérico’ was careering distractedly round the arena. It took a while, but eventually Paco Ureña fixed it with low, tight, watchful, verónicas. It took the first pic well, Juan Melgar tapando la salida blatantly. The second pic was taken after a purposeful charge and a solid push from the picador to a bull now pawing the ground before embarking. Fortes risked his life in some very close chicuelinas indeed. And Azuquito and Curro Vivas should have been allowed - forced – to take salutes for their brilliant banderillas. They were not. The raw material was not suitable for a fine and fragile torero like Ureña, but he did draw it into a couple of estatuarios, marred when the bull fell, and two sets of derechazos, one high and one low, that kept hopes high. They were but hopes because the toro was rajado. The coda was a couple of series of pegged single derechazos and an estocada that dropped the bull quickly. It did not raise a sound.
Ureña’s second was just as wild as had been the first, but this serious and willing matador slowed it down with tight and templadas low verónicas. It leaned for a light pic at the chest of the horse and lightly leaned at a second token encounter. Fortes strode out and stood directly in front of this manso animal as if deciding what to do. It was as if each was trying to hypnotise the other. Nothing happened and Fortes walked away. ¡Una cosa extraña de la Fiesta! Just like ‘Histérico’, ‘Picarón’ behaved perfectly in the banderillas, and this time Augustín de Espartinas shone. After a series of desultory derechazos - and he is a master of the desultory - Ureña burst into life to coax the bull through two series of naturales that were serious, complete from start to finish, and perfectly templados: artistic toreo at its best. Then, the heart seemed to go out of Paco. He gave two series of naturales that felt like toreo de salón and fell to pegging single pases with each hand which killed all transmission from arena to tendido. He was probably as relieved as everyone else when his estocada dropped the unimpressive Fuente Ymbro into a silent oblivion
Saúl Jiménez Fortes (Image from BMF)
Saúl Fortes is managing to keep out of his hospital bed for longer periods these days, and, judging from his successes in Madrid and Málaga, is purveying a much less frightening form of toreo. It was a pity that his first bull was running away from his well-constructed early verónicas before they were completed. The animal was placed before the horse and turned and ran away. It paid for its inattention when it did hit the peto: Francisco de Borja punished it severely. And the second pic, low and too far back, finished its chastisement Raúl Ruiz and El Victór placed a couple of fine pairs appropriately and movingly, and Fortes dedicated the bull to Diego Urdiales. Fortes tried hard to draw pases from this reluctant and wayward toro and did so with a surprising level of success. Comprised of derechazos and naturales only, the faena was sensible, wise and dignified. From full, forward cite to long, linking remate, his movements were serene and natural, a surprise to this aficionado who has so often seen him as tall and awkward. The faena had the added merit of being short, compact, and adapted to the bull’s idiosyncrasies, a suitable form for a faena dedicated to that master of such things, Diego Urdiales. Had the kill not been messy, with the muleta being caught in the first entry and the final estocada desprendida, he would surely have cut an ear. The ovation was loud and sustained.
Fortes was served worse by his second bull than he had been by his first. He was divorced from it in his lax opening verónicas and, though it charged well for one pic, it left a second freely, charged the horse as it headed to retire, and fell before Raúl Ruiz and Gómez Pascual each placed an accurate pair of banderillas. That the faena said nothing, transmitted nothing and comprised right and left-handed pases that were rushed and enganchados was mostly caused by the nature of the bull. But less than an hour ago, Fortes had proven that he could tame a wayward uninterested bull. This had a, “Let’s get this over with” feel. He finished it with an estocada and a descabello.
The third bull on the cartel damaged a leg before entry and the substitute was one of those Fuente Ymbros that satisfy everyone bar the most exigent: a noble bull with manso tendencies and enough energy and willingness to sustain charges through long series of pases. Adrián’s flawless verónicas set the scene. The careful way in which he placed the bull properly in position before the horse three times was as wonderful as it is rare. The bull had a readiness to charge from a distance (most of the time), and its development was interesting. It charged and pushed in a first firm pic; hit the peto with a resounding thump from a long charge and left a light pic readily; stood en sitio pawing the ground before pushing against another hard pic. There was no camera in the gateway today and we were able to watch one of the most authentic suertes de varas of the feria. The bull was keen in the second suerte also and Marcos Prieto and Diego Valladar took full advantage of that in a textbook suerte. Adrián routinely opens his faenas on his knees and he so skilfully linked derechazos to pases de espaldas that he led a man who abhors toreo de rodillas as much as he does rejoneo to write in his notes, “a great linked series!” It was the first half of the faena that showcased the toreo of Adrián best. His early series of derechazos were complete, the hands held low and the sequencing, rhythm, and flow captivating. His naturales were less striking and rougher, but he was obviously trying. Then the “chispa” faded as quickly as it had jumped into life, and quantity replaced quality. There were showy tight pases, a desplante with the sword thrown away and the bull escarbando in front of the final manoletinas. The ending had become shallow, repetitive and predictable. Most of the audience did not agree and loved the frivolity. It must have pained the exigent Matías to award the ear, but he did the correct thing and gave the public, and Fernando Adrián, their ear.
A spectacular chest pass from Fernando Adrián (Image from BMF)
The sixth toro ran around wildly till Adrián fixed it with verónicas and delantales, smooth lances of flowing completeness with the cape flat in the delantales. The bull pushed hard at a pic that was doubled by removal and replacement. It entered again for a touch. No doubt the opening pases of the faena were a spectacle for those who did not notice the loss of the muleta in the middle and the towel and cape assistance at either end of the derechazos and cambiados from an Adrián holding the barrera. The faena was a succession of pegged right and left-handed pases misusing the pico and with readjusting trots between them. Adrián has not read the immortal words of Domingo Ortega, “Dar pases no es torear”. In seconds, the bull was confused, the man was confused, and the crowd were bored. The seconds stretched to minutes, the alignment was agonising, and las Corridas Generales of 2025 ended in an aviso, a defective estocada and two descabellos.
But! We had seen several very fine bulls, one given a vuelta, one that should have been, and one indultado; three main gates in five corridas; a gradual increase in attendances since last year, with many of the newcomers young; and we still had a president who almost always kept his hankie in his pocket till it was truly needed – good old Matías! This aficionado will not be sweltering in Málaga next year.