Until a few years ago, bullfighting was attached to the Ministry of the Interior -previously, the Interior-, an anomaly corrected in 2011 when it passed to the Ministry of Culture, which is where it corresponds to an activity recognized precisely as Cultural Heritage. And in most squares the presidents of the festivities were members of the Police Force, commissioners in general (one of them, in the Bilbao square in the 70s, Amedo, yes, that one).
It is not so much like that anymore, although in Las Ventas, perhaps because it is “the first bullring in the world” police officers are still in charge of ensuring compliance with the Regulations, not only during the bullfight but also in the previous ones (recognition of the bulls, raffle of these…).
Well, it turns out that in this thirteenth of the Fair, which despite the weather omens was maintained with the dark purple sky but without discharging water, the policeman who occupied the box “stole” an ear from one of the bullfighters, Francisco José Sword, strongly requested by the public as a just prize for a task of great merit crowned with the rapier. What things are, he did take out his so that Román could walk an equally hard-earned ear.
The ears, in bullfights, are the maximum expression of democracy since it is the prize with which, by majority, the public recognizes the work of the bullfighters and the usÃa, personal tastes aside, this must be adhered to when granting the first ear is treated (the second no longer meets this standard).
Well then – we said – Espada, like Manolo Escobar’s car, they stole the ear – of the bull – but not while he was sleeping but after fighting with absolute dedication, with crutches that had as much cadence as command, a bull that charged with greed. With the same truth that he had fought, he went in to kill and, with the good bull from Algarra rolling at his feet, the request for ear seemed majority, but – we said – the president began to count handkerchiefs and they did not add a majority, robbing a bullfighter in need of triumph what has been won by law.
And this, the triumph I say, surely would have come if, in the one that closed the bullring, the sword, which I handle badly, had not made the only blur to a task that ratified what was already seen in his first turn: a bullfighter who, From a serene value, settled shoes drew, after the undaunted start statues, crutches by the two pitons, with adjustment, command, tie and length and finishing off the batches with sovereign chest passes. Espada earned recognition from Las Ventas.
Also by law, Román was rewarded, with the luck that, this time, the one in the box got the numbers and the always smiling Valencian bullfighter was able to walk the ear of his second bull around the ring, after an intelligent and very well built, taking advantage of the happy stride of Montalvo’s in its first half and already in suburban land when the animal was less. The lunge was already a prize in itself.
Less lucky was the Mexican Octavio GarcÃa El Payo, who returned to fight in Spain after a seven-year absence. El Payo is a bullfighter with a classic concept, he figures in his country, but this afternoon at Las Ventas, he tiptoed past.
