A banner that appeared on line 7 at the beginning of the celebration announced it clearly: “Without a bull”, it said, “nothing matters”. And the worst omens came true. There was no bull, and those who came out, unequal in presentation, gentle, soft and of a foolish nobility, did not contribute to the success of the bullfight. Only the second returned to the corrals, but several more could have been returned if the presidential box maintained the criteria of a few years ago. Neither this, today’s, is the much-vaunted bull of Madrid, and his behavior does not presage emotion in any way.
For this reason, the bullfight was a gibberish, between the continuous protests of the most demanding fans, who demanded “bull, bull”, called for the expulsion of the president or mocked the bull with shouts of “meow, meow”, and complaints from another part of the public that begged for silence and respect for what was happening in the ring. In short, there was more attention -anger and also entertainment- on the lines than in the arena, which is an unequivocal sign that the bullfight was watered down.
For a moment, it seemed that the fight of the fifth would turn the sock around. Emilio de Justo received him with some ordoñista verónicas, with a flexed leg, long and graceful; Morenito de Arles and Pérez Valcárcel led the banner with brilliance, and the matador repeated with the crutch what he had done with the cape, in temperate blows that made the square creak. At last. When De Justo summoned in the first round with his right hand, there was an expectant silence, and the passes arose full of good taste and connection; he repeated two more times on the same side before an excessively noble animal that did not bring the necessary tension to the supposed fight. The natural agitation dropped because the bull raised its head at the end of each crutch and tarnished the match, despite which a final trench was a flash of inspiration. When his ear seemed granted, he pricked and the mystery was over.
Something similar happened to Roca Rey before the third, a very protested bull that caused a fiery division of opinions in the stands. The Peruvian bullfighter tried to isolate himself from the shouting and sought victory with real anxiety against a noble and bland opponent whom he fought detached, but brave to the letter. Some very tight Bernadines raised the public from his seats, but a puncture left him in an ovation that the right-hander thanked from the alley.
And there was no more. Well, the picador Paco María gave a bullfighting lesson in the two measured punches to the fourth, and Antonio Chacón excelled in two showy pairs of banderillas to the sixth.
The fight of the first of the afternoon passed between protests, and Manzanares walked around at half speed, in a simply correct performance and little dedication. The room was so dull and rundown that he wouldn’t admit a pass.
Something worse happened to Emilio de Justo with the hat of El Vellosino, who fled in terror as soon as he saw a human being in the ring. He came out distracted, barbed tables on several occasions and explained in his language that he did not want a fight of any kind.
And Roca Rey was not able to catch the air of the noble sixth, perhaps the most enshrined of the confinement and, therefore, difficult. In view of the fact that the batches of crutches did not come out clean and were born absent of the slightest quality, he opted for a circular and that did not catch on with anyone either. In short, it could not be, that the afternoon was uphill and that the Peruvian bullfighter did not find the path that he had traveled in his first.
The banner already said it: Without a bull nothing matters. (And without bullfighters). Well that.
Port of San Lorenzo/Manzanares, De Justo, Roca Rey
two bulls of The Port of San Lorenzo, second (returned) and fifth, noble and classy; three of The Harbor Window, third (noble), fourth (discasted) and sixth, noble and repeater; and one of Valdefresno, the first, noblote. In general, uneven in presentation, gentle and soft. hat of the fleecefair presentation, meek and outcast
Jose Maria Manzanares: lunge (ovation); puncture and opposite lunge (silence).
Emilio de Justo: jab and lunge (silence); _aviso_ puncture and lunge (ovation).
king rock: _aviso_ puncture and lunge (ovation); lunge (silence).
Sales Square. 25 of May. Fourteenth celebration of the San Isidro Fair. Full of ‘no tickets’ (22,964 viewers, according to the company).
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