From time to time life provides unexpected moments, joy or otherwise. On this occasion he wanted fate that whoever signs this would greet the Albacetean farmer Daniel Ruiz Yagüe (1951-2023) for what was unknowingly going to be the last time. It happened shortly after the bullfight at the Castellón Magdalena Fair ended, a one-on-one between two bullfighting figures (who are the ones who most often announced themselves with their bulls), El Juli and José María Manzanares. The Alicante right-hander had cut off an ear from the last of the afternoon, “Mamarracho” by ugly name, red partridge eye in his fur and while the crowd left the arena, Daniel Ruiz waited for the car that would take him to his Albacete farm in Alcaraz, Farmhouse of the Field. But he never arrived because on the way he felt unwell (apparently, the aorta burst) and at the Almansa Hospital they could do nothing to save his life.
A life devoted to his great passion, bullfighting. A dream that was fulfilled in 1985, when he founded, with Juan Pedro Domecq cattle, the cattle farm that bears his name. From then on, a story of success but also controversy began, both because of what many fans and some bullfighting critics considered excessive “comfort” of his cattle and because of his impulsive nature, which made him enter into controversy. Enrique Ponce and El Juli (with whom he had a great friendship) are two of the bullfighters who announced themselves the most with his brand.
If we talk about controversies, a recent one is illustrative of the times for bullfighting, but not only.
At the 2021 Begoña de Gijón Fair, cattle from Daniel Ruiz were fought in the El Bibio bullring and among the six bulls were “Nigeriano” and “Feminista”. The latter also fell in luck to Morante de la Puebla, a genius of bullfighting and who does not hide his sympathy for VOX. And Troy burned, rather the socialist mayoress of Gijón, Ana González, lit the fuse and the social networks did the rest. The lady mayoress, ignorant – or not – that the names of the bulls start from the cow that gave birth to them and that the order of fighting is by lottery (“Nigeriano” went to El Juli and “Feminista”, mecachis, to Morante) let down her long hair and said: With “Nigeriano” and “Feminista” they have skipped several lines, which a city that believes in the equality of women and men and in integration cannot allow”. And so things announced that the concession of El Bibio for bullfighting use would not be renewed and would be dedicated to cultural activities (prevaricate is called the figure, since bullfighting is considered Intangible Cultural Heritage). And Gijón ran out of bulls, for now, what would Balañá say.
The truth is that, controversies and dissensions aside, the loss, so unexpected, of Daniel Ruiz is that of a man devoted to a passion: bullfighting.
