Morante’s retirement and what should come after
A tearful Morante de la Puebla shows his removed coleta to the Las Ventas spectators (Image Plaza1)
It was like a scene from an unrealistic Hollywood film. Some minutes earlier, Morante de la Puebla had been lying on the ground, spreadeagled and concussed, having landed heavily after being tossed up in the air by his Garcigrande bull during capework. For a while, it looked like José Antonio would play no further part in proceedings. Since then, however, he had shakily recovered his senses and balance, then stepped back out from the callejón to engage the bull in a faena, one involving some majestic derechazos (little was possible on the bull’s left horn) and a fine estocada, the matador persisting with his artistry despite the bull’s continuing challenges. The spectators at Las Ventas, moved by the spectacle, successfully petitioned for two ears to be awarded, delivering Morante’s second Puerta Grande triumph in Madrid this year. And now, after circling the arena, the crowd still applauding wildly, the drama continued with Morante at the ring’s centre, tearfully removing and then holding up his coleta. The maestro had decided on this moment to retire!
The taurine world reacted with shock, but perhaps it was not such a surprise after all. Earlier in the season, following last year’s ears and tail award at Sevilla, Morante had finally experienced his first-ever Puerta Grande in Madrid - what more was there to achieve? Also, this has been a terribly punishing second half of the season for the 46-year-old; the effects of a brutal voltereta at Móstoles on 15 June put him out of action until July 2; another tossing occurred at Roquetas de Mar on July 20; three days later, he received a horn blow to the chest at Santander; August 8 saw a voltereta at Marbella, and two days later came the cornada at Pontevedra that took a long time to heal - apart from an afternoon at Melilla on September 3, the matador didn’t reappear until September 19 at Salamanca; the following day, at Almodóvar del Campo, he was briefly at the bull’s mercy following a stumble; and then another heavy tossing occurred at Úbeda on October 4 before his final one at Madrid eight days later.
Taking into account the contracts he couldn’t make but for his injuries, the prestige of heading this year’s escalafón would likely have been Morante’s over Alejandro Talavante. The latter has been put in the position of pulling the cart by the empresas to compensate for Morante’s in-season absences and Roca Rey’s decision to take on fewer contracts this year.
What next?
So, what do the empresas do next with Morante - one of toreo’s two genuine crowd-pullers, together with Roca Rey - gone?
There is likely to be pressure from the empresas on Roca Rey to appear together with Daniel Luque, a genuine aspirant for figura status but a somewhat marginalised matador as the Peruvian has, for some years, refused to appear with him on the same cartel. The veto is well-known and a decision to end it would undoubtedly draw crowds to their joint appearances. But Roca Rey is now past his empresa- and crowd-pleasing phase and is a man determined to torear on his own terms; I expect any such pressure to be resisted.
Alejandro Talavante is likely to be touted as a leading man by some empresas - and, on his day, continues to be wonderful - but he’s been around a long time now, is a known entity and is unlikely to draw full houses. The same can be said for the Matilla group of matadors that the empresas have tended to rely upon - Sebastián Castella, Manzanares and El Fandi - while the independent Miguel Ángel Perera continues to impress but is also too familiar now to be an important force for the future. Manuel Escribano has had numerous opportunities to succeed with commercial fare and failed, while Emilio de Justo, on this year’s form (despite his recent Puerta Grande in Madrid), is no longer the torero he used to be.
There are alternatives. El Juli might be persuaded to don a suit of lights again or the empresas might be tempted to turn to Marco Pérez to solve their ticket-selling problems. But the former is another familiar element, while the latter, to my mind, is too young, his toreo still too nascent, to be placed at this stage in the position of being responsible for the economic success of a temporada.
Time for change
No, it is time for a change in approach; the leading empresas need to invest in the several young toreros showing promise, either by bringing them into their houses or simply by putting them on in their plazas. In both instances, more promotion aimed at the general public will be needed to ensure these individuals’ stories are told, their merits highlighted, so that their personalities and achievements become better known and the general public become keen to go to the bullrings and see them.
If I was in charge of la casa Matilla, for example, and wanting some toreros with long-term prospects to replace Castella, Manzanares and El Fandi (whose departure from the house has just been announced), Borja Jiménez, Tomás Rufo and Marco Pérez would seem to be pretty solid choices. But, in truth, there are plenty of promising young toreros who deserve to be brought forward into the main ferias - David Galván, David de Miranda (currently manager-less), Molina, Samuel Navalón (also now without an apoderado) , Víctor Hernández, Román, Clemente, Ismael Martín, Christian Parejo, Diego San Román, Aarón Palacio, Jorge Martínez, Jorge Isiegas, Isaac Fonseca and Calita all come to mind. Amazingly, half of those listed will not have reached double figures in terms of corrida numbers come this temporada’s end, which indicates just how hard it is to break through while the current cartel - in the pejorative English sense of the word - between empresas and veteran toreros remains in place.