Pamplona 12/07/14 – Octava De Abono

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

Fuente Ymbro bulls for Juan José Padilla, Pepe Moral & Jiménez Fortes.

Pamplona is one of Juan José Padilla’s talismanic rings. His jovial bravery chimes well with the boisterous peñas and Padilla has never been one to shirk the big, tough bulls of the northern feria.  This helps give some context to explain the thunderous welcome Padilla received from Pamplona today; Padilla reciprocated. He triumphed in the only way he knows, by giving his all in each toro and creating a spectacle through spectacular (though not profound) toreo.

Padilla received the first bull of the afternoon with no less than four larga cambiadas de rodillas. The bull charged well at the capotes, and Padilla made the best of it; a quite by navarras, some delaales and a galleo to the horse. It was not memorable toreo, but it was well received. After an acceptable tercio de banderillas, Padilla performed one of his typical faenas. That is, inconsistent, but surprisingly pleasing fundamental toreo, capped with a populist arrimón. I can live without the desplantes on his knees and the circulares, however, communicating with one’s audience is a necessary skill for a performance artist, and Padilla has his quality in spades. I would much rather recall a very well timed series of long low derechazos that, although short, was meritorious, and some naturales de frente that served as a short tribute to Manolo Vazquez. The bull was classy, but failed to readily repeat charges; Padilla was correct in gaining a pass between each muletazos when necessary in order to ensure that its charge was continuous. A solid estocada gave him an ear.

Padilla cut another ear from his second bull in order to secure the puerta grande. Once again, Padilla was active with the cape, performing a larga cabiada and a series of acceptable veronicas to welcome the bull into the arena, some delantales to take the bull to the horse, and a quite by chicuelinas.  Padilla’s desire to please was more noteworthy than his toreo. Another formulaic tercio de banderillas served to focus the crowd’s attention on the ring after their mid-corrida snack; the pair al violin usually conveys little emotion to me, but the public love it. Who am I to argue with them? The bull arrived at the muleta with his strength in tact and a vibrant charge. Padilla was able to temper the bravura with well-timed toreo en redondo. His naturales were particularly low, slow and smooth. The faena was perhaps too inconsistent to be truly moving, but it was perfectly enjoyable. The bull’s charge was not as frank on its right horn, but Padilla solved this problem by resorting to a desplante. The molinetes and pases de pecho de rodillas, finished with another desplante on his knees, served to ignite the crowd enough for them to petition for another ear notwithstanding the pinchazo prior to the estocada.

The two orejas that Padilla cut today pale in comparison with those earned by Miguel Ángel Perera yesterday; Padilla triumphed by performing for the crowd, Perera by toreando a pair of tough bulls. I know which route to triumph I prefer, but I cannot deny that Padilla moved a great deal of people to applaud and cheer his work today – life’s too short to piss on their bonfire. There is no harm enjoying and valuing Padilla for what he is: a popular torero that aims to please.

Pepe Moral came into the cartel to substitute David Mora. Moral recently cut two ears in Sevilla (in the Corpus Christi corrida). The Casa de la Misericordia was, to my mind, correct to offer him the substitution. A triumph in Sevilla, even out of feria time, should be rewarded.

Unfortunately, his first bull was manso and prevented the possibility of a faena. The bull would accept the first pass in the series, but escape at the second towards his querencia. Once Moral followed him to the querencia, the bull was reticent to charge. As is usual in these cases, the matador spent too long in front of the bull, it was clear that the bull did not have a faena, but Moral tried in vain to perform toreo of note. I can understand the kid’s predicament, but, in these circumstances, I think the quicker the bull is killed the better.

Thankfully, the narrative changed with the fifth bull. Moral was able to ratify his sevillian triumph and demonstrate a profound, sober toreo of note. This bull had a deep charge that Moral was able to exploit with a solid fundamental faena performed with both hands. His toreo is engaged, well timed and pure. It surprising that a torero that has been marginalised during his whole career (this was only his ninth corrida in six seasons) can produce work of such merit. He concluded his faena with the typical modern arrimón. However, rather than the posturing at close quarters that sometimes is sold to us as ojedismo, this was good figure of eight toreo whereby the torero used his position close to the bull as a legitimate technique to extract long passes from it. After a clean sword thrust Moral was awarded an ear. I am looking forward to seeing him again, let’s hope the system gives him another chance!

Jiménez Fortes drew the worst lot. Both of his faenas were long, but not memorable. I am loathe to say that he had a poor afternoon. He was firm throughout and showcased his widely recognised bravery. However, Fortes lacked the technical wherewithal to solve the problems posed by his lacklustre bulls. Moreover, his timing was off kilter which led to an excessive amount of enganchones. Fortes’ valour means that it is worth waiting for him to mature as a torero, however, based on yesterday’s showing, it may be preferable to give such opportunity to Moral too.      

Pamplona 11/07/14 – Septima de Abono

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

 

Jandilla bulls for Sebastián Castella, Miguel Ángel Perera & Iván Fandiño.

Pamplona is the Feria del Toro. Its unique selling point is the spectacular presentation of the bulls, rather than the toreros who face them. The cartels are generally constructed around toros and ganaderías that interest the aficionado, and toreros that inspire less confidence. However, there are always a couple of corridas which include the figuras and other top toreros; yesterday was one of those days. Sebastián Castella, the brave Frenchman who I saw perform well in Algeciras a few weeks back, Miguel Ángel Perera, arguably the leading torero of 2014 and Iván Fandiño, a torero that continues his upward curve towards figura status.

The first bull of the afternoon was noble, but weak, thereby inhibiting his charge somewhat. Castella began with soft doblones that did not suit the bull’s fragile condition. He then opted, correctly, to take the bull to the centre of the ring and began to torear in redondo with his right hand.  The four series that followed were good, but lacked emotion due to the bull’s weakness, it lacked the strength to add profoundness to its nobility. Nevertheless, Castella linked his passes well, gaining a step between pass where necessary and staying completely still when possible. When he took the left hand the bull was nearly finished and its charge was very short; despite these inconveniences he performed a couple of meritorious naturales. The possibility of an ear was lost through poor sword work.

Castella drew another noble but weak bull in fourth. It had a classier charge and allowed Castella to paint some excellent individual derechazos. However, it run out of gas after a couple of series and prevented Sebastián from completing his performance. On the face of it, Castella seemingly had the best lot from a torero’s perspective; they were both noble and allowed the torero to be comfortable. However, these qualities are deceptive. Unless the class is accompanied by a mobile and profound charge, these bulls allow the torero to be comfortable, but they do not lend themselves to great faenas. A torero like Castellla needs some more punch in his bulls.

For great faenas you need bulls like Perera’s first, it had great mobility and an edge of temper. Miguel Ángel had the best medicine for these symptoms, a low dominant muleta good timing. After two testing series with the right hand, by the third, Perera had him dominated and performed some excellent toreo en redondo. The bull’s mobility shone through, and Perera had tempered its anger; the toreo was truly vibrant. The jandilla was harder to dominate with the left hand and the faena lost some momentum.  Not to worry, Perera took the right hand again and built the faena to a crescendo. The bull saw nothing but muleta as the torero spun him round his body in an assured fashion. It was easy to forget that the bull had a core of dangerous casta and he was ready to pounce on any mistake. To reinforce his utter dominance, Perera concluded with simply outstanding figure of eight toreo. After taking the real sword, the faena was garnished with some smoothly executed manoletinas. The excellent sword thrust underscored this excellent faena that was unfairly only given one ear. In any event, I will not allow the palco’s unseemly decision obscure the worth (or my enjoyment) of this faenón.

His second bull was less demanding, it was just as noble as Castella’s pair, but with greater mobility (thereby allowing for significant toreo). Perera opponent lacked an edge of commitment and kept its head too high to be a truly good bull. Nevertheless, the torero took advantage of the bull’s positive qualities through his firm attitude. Miguel Ángel managed to link good series en redondo with his left and right hand, although each seemed slightly superficial given the bull’s lack of commitment. However, Perera’s great virtue this afternoon has been his ability to iron out each bull’s defects in order to make them each charge well by the end of the faena. Therefore, by the concluding series en redondo, Perera had succeeded in lowering the bull’s head and was able to conclude with well linked figure of eight torero and some cleanly executed luquesinas. A pinchazo and an estocada allowed him to cut the ear to open he puerta grande. An excellent afternoon from this figurón. Miguel Ángel Perera has consolidated his position at the top of toreo. Along with El Juli, I think he is called to dominate toreo for the coming years.

There was nothing doing with the third bull. It had a difficult and disconcerting charge. Fandiño managed the odd meaningful pass, but was unable to link two of these together. He spent a great deal of time in front of the bull without managing to create a faena; after Perera’s stunning faena to the challenging second bull, this performance (albeit with a tough bull) was underwhelming and conservative.

The final bull of the afternoon was disconcerting. It seemed to charge well in spurts, before losing momentum. I cannot help but think that had Fandiño stood up to the bull, stayed firm between each pass and kept the muleta in the bull’s face we might have a seen a good faena. Instead, Fandiño gave a reserved performance, with too many pauses and a focus on re-positioning himself between each pass. The oreja he cut was inconsequential, notwithstanding the good sword thrust. Although Fandiño’s lot was by no means ideal, one cannot help but wonder how the emphatic Perera would have fared.

 

Pamplona 08/07/14 – Cuarta de Abono

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

 

Dolores Aguirre bulls for Uceda Leal, Francisco Marco & Paulita.

On paper this corrida seemed to bring together a promising string of bulls, and some underwhelming toreros. Of course, anyone who faces a bull deserves my respect; however, it is also incumbent upon the aficionado to, respectfully, opine on the relative worth of the toreros. To my mind, Uceda has been a dignified, elegant, but inconsistent torero; Francisco Marco appears as the token local in Pamplona and several other northern ferias; and Paulita has found a space in these cartels after thirteen years of trying and some recent small time triumphs. Therefore, the trio did not fill me with promise. Dolores Aguirre bulls, on the other hand, generally serve up a varied and interesting spectacle. They have a reputation as being tough, however, I have enjoyed many a noble and classy Dolores.

The first three bulls followed a similar pattern. Each of them was noble and mobile; their charges were not vigorous, but could be profound and classy if the muleta was presented to them correctly. Unfortunately, none of the toreros was up to the task, and the three faenas foundered among the doubts of each of the performers.

Uceda’s bull had an edge of mansedumbre, but came and went well enough to allow for a faena. However, Uceda never managed to fix it on his muleta, and the chance of success was lost among the numerous flaps of this muleta.

Francisco Marco lacked the wherewithal to consistently torear his bull properly. The odd enganchon and frequent doubts about his placing prevented anything more that the odd good pass to this good bull. On the few occasions that Marco did muster the decisiveness to stay still and link his passes, the bull responded with profound charges. Such moments were, unfortunately few and far between. The Pamplona crowd were feeling generous and indulged him with an ovation.

Similarly, Paulita was only able to perform inconsistently with his classy third bull. Perhaps backing up his recent minor triumphs, Paulita was more confident than Marco and managed two or three worthwhile series. However, these were interspersed in a sea of doubt as the bull exhausted its charges on passes that were not to the level that it deserved.

Uceda spent little energy on his second bull. He opted four three pics, when the bull did not necessarily require them, and performed a short faena de aliño – three or four half-hearted doblones that did not serve to dominate the bull, were the limited prologue to the estocada. On one side, I would rather a short faena that a torero wasting our time posturing before a bull without success. However, this bull did not seem so bad as to solely merit doblones.

Francisco Marco had another fruitless performance with the fifth bull. It was not as classy as his first and had the added inconvenience of angry casta – however, he might had been able to build a faena by standing up to the bull with firmness. Another, wasted opportunity, but it would be overly critical to expect anything further from a torero facing his first corrida of the season.

The final act of this sad corrida continued the established theme. The bull stayed short in the opening capotazos. Rather than seeking to remedy this defect with judicious capework, Paulita ordered his picador to give the bull two hard pics. Miraculously, this did not completely destroy the bull. It still had the ability to give a few good charges to the muleta. However, the torero was not able to fully extract these qualities and the corrida ended with another non-entity of a faena.

I wrote the opening paragraph before the corrida started, I am sad to say I was proved right. The bulls were clearly superior to the toreros. A trio of toreros that have already said most of their piece in the fiesta. Given the reduced number of corridas, and thus reduced opportunities to young up an coming toreros, it would be suitable of questioning the wisdom of hiring these veterans in decline (what a difference to, for example, Miguel Abellán, who’s toreo displayed maturity and development twenty four hours earlier). I am not saying that this was a great corrida, but rather one did not develop as it might due to the toreros’ shortcomings. An opportunity that they wasted. I, for one, would have enjoyed seeing these bulls with a set of promising youngsters, or proven toreros in their prime.

 

 

Pamplona 07/07/14 – Tercera de Abono

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

Torrestrella bulls for Antonio Ferrera, Miguel Abellán & Daniel Luque. The Torrestrella bulls' disconcerting behaviour marked this corrida. While not particularly bad, they each had mobility and none was overtly manso, there was barely a classy charge to be had. A lack of strength and commitment prevented the bulls from allowing a truly complete faena. However, Luque and Abellán were able to extract enough from their opponents to give aficionados a useful picture of their positive current form. Antonio Ferrera, meanwhile, had a mixed afternoon. Ferrera’s first bull galloped a great deal in the first two tercios, but its charge was undefined as he took the muleta. Antonio did not give his best tercio de banderillas, the first two pairs were clearly a toro pasado, only the last pair was executed square to the bull’s horns. Ferrera began with doblones to try to fix the bull to his muleta, but unfortunately the bull’s charge decanted itself towards blandness. Ferrera constructed a clean and smooth faena based around series en redondo with both hands. There were the odd good passes and pleasing series; a technically correct faena that as a whole lacked emotion. The fourth bull was cut from a similar cloth. Antonio Ferrera spent a great deal of time with the muleta, but was unable to make a faena of it. It would have been prefereable to reach for the sword much sooner. Once again, his banderillas were subpar; only an acceptable pair al quiebro stood out. Abellan’s saludo capotero to the beautiful ensabanado bull run second was emotive; two larga cambiadas, slow, low veronicas and a media on his kness – a very good calling card from this rejuvenated veteran. He also took the bull to the horse with some pretty chicuelinas al paso, showing both the bull’s class and his positive disposition. Abellán opted for a spectacular opening to his faena, on his knees in the centre of the ring. This excited the peñas, but the truly moving pass was a desdén once on his feet. Unfortunately, the faena subsequently dissipated to nothing. The bull lacked the strength to support a faena, and it all came to nothing. A clean and well executed estocada brought the second act to a close. Miguel Abellán suffered a tear in his abductors during the estocada to his first bull, and took some painkillers to be able to come out and face his second. Although he was visibly impaired by the injury, he was able to give us the faena of the afternoon. If his performance to the second bull was based on desire, here we saw a fresh and relaxed torero perform slow, linked toreo fundamental with both hands. The concluding manoletinas served as a nod to the peñas that enjoy overtly spectacular toreo. The faena led to a deserved ear for a torero that, in the autumn of his career, deserves a place in the ferias circuit – a triumph in San Isidro and San Fermín certainly merits attention. Daniel Luque’s first bull was problematic. Despite its mobility, its charge lacked class and it would quickly twitch back towards the torero at the end of each pass. Nevertheless, Luque was up to the challenge; using good timing and a firm muleta which he always kept in the bull’s face, Daniel built a good faena that even had the music playing. Perhaps the spectacle of the faena itself did not merit music, but the technical worth of the faena was substantial. Unfortunately, the condition of the sixth bull was similar. There was little for Luque to do other than show his assuredness before the bull. It was mobile and thus allowed Luque to perform some well time individual passes, but it lacked the commitment for the passes to have real emotion. The highlight of the performance was an excellent series of four naturales, well link and long, they gave us he hope that the faena could develop. It was not to be. However, what shone through this afternoon that Luque has consolidated his toreo. That is: his triumph in San Isidro was not a coincidence. He is still young and may be ready to develop his career to the level that has often been promised, but not yet delivered.

 

 

Pamplona - 05/07/2014 - Primera de Abono

The view from the sofa - my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV

 

El Parralejo novillos for Borja Jiménez, Francisco José Espada & Posada de Maravillas.

Borja Jiménez rose to prominence after his spectacular triumph in Sevilla a few weeks ago. I was unable to watch that corrida, but gobbled up the online video offered by the Maestranza website. Although it was difficult to formulate an accurate view of the faenas that led to the triumph, Jiménez struck me as having a similar aesthetic and technical concept to El Juli. That is, all of his toreo is subordinated to the desire of taking the bulls as low, long and templado as possible.

He opened his first faena with a series of test passe, before taking his novillo to the centre of the ring to impose his long, low toreo on it via derechazos. The bull’s charge was informal, but Borja was able to link his toreo en Redondo. It is pleasing, although lacking in emotion due to the bull’s charge. After three series switched to the left hand. The bull’s charge is less repetitive, but, despite this, Borja is able to extract a series, which is again characterised by its smoothness. He fundamental toreo formed the backbone of the faena, but he engaged the crowd with some varied remates to give the faena some extra vitality. A straight volapíe was the last ingredient needed to for the faena to serve up an ear. The faena itself was reasonable, in toreo, we must always judge a torero by his raw material; therefore, given the bull’s questionable quality, Borja had performed very well, and certainly deserved an ear as recognition. 

Francisco José Espada also gave a good account of himself with his first novillo. Its charge was once again informal and lacking focus. However, Espada tried, and at times succeeded, in imposing his stylish toreo enredondo on the bull. He is an elegant torero, who likes to lower his hand to the bull. Unfortunately, the bull lacked vigour and often lost its footing. Perhaps Espada ought to have forsaken his concept of low muletazos and sought to perform a faena a media altura, but, even so, it is unlikely the performance would have amounted to more than the ovation (and minority petition for an ear) he received. A just recognition to the positive impression Espada gave.

Posada de Maravillas soon spotted that his novillo was a different proposition to its two predecessors and began to torear in redondo immediately. The series were well linked and accompanied by Posada’s striking aesthetic concept. The chest passes were especially long, rounded and profound. The faena kept its momentum when he took the left hand, his toreo al natural was beautifully exected. Perhaps the faena lacked an element of repose that would have allowed the crowd to savour his toreo. However, after the disconcerting performances Posada had given in Valencia and Madrird, this was a faena worthy of a leading novillero. Some circulares gave an exciting end to the faena, and only two pinchazos prevented him from cutting an ear or (if the Pamplona crowd was feeling charitable) two. Sadly, while giving the second pinchazo Posada cut his hand and his afternoon was over.

The fourth novillo was perfect for Jiménez – it had a long, smooth and classy charge, with just enough drive to prevent it from being bland. Once again, it was striking how long and low Borja takes the bull – I see many toreros who focus more on their aesthetic expression than in torear. Borja is the opposite, his aim is engaging the bull with the cloth and controlling its long and low path during the pass. His derechazos were nicely linked, using the bull’s own momentum to construct the series. The naturales were even longer, with the young novillero using the flaps of the muleta to take the bull that extra foot with his left hand – as it should be. Borja Jimenéz also has a sense of how to structure a faena to a crescendo, the crescendo being a couple of well-timed circular passes. He sprinkled his performance with some attractive remates; the molinetes added variety, and his emphatic desdén underlined his superiority. Another straight sword thrust allowed him to cut two well-deserved ears. The novillo earned a vuelta al ruedo.

Francisco José Espada was determined not to be entirely outshone by his fellow novillero and managed to cut an ear from the fifth novillo. This novillo did allow Espada to fully explore his concept of toreo; it had the vitality to support his low, demanding toreo. What I have most enjoyed about Espada is his class. Like Jiménez, he does seek to torear before posing; but his elegant manner pleasantly underscores his toreo. Perhaps his vertical, encajado style prevents his passes from being as long as they could be. But this is a question of style rather than a fault. Unfortunately, the novillo lacked stamina, and only lasted a few series. Espada also overstayed his welcome before the bull and the last couple of minutes was the novillero extracting uni-passes before a leaden bull.  Sure sword use confirmed the ear that his faena, and afternoon as a whole, deserved.

The corrida concluded with another solid faena from Borja Jiménez. The bull lacked class and mobility, but Borja was able to extract some worthwhile passes from it. The faena was scrappy, due to the bull’s condition, but animated given the novillero’s disposition to please. It was not a novillo that could lead to a triumph, rather, like Espada’s first novillo, it helped show a novillero that was able to overcome a problematic opponent.

Thus concluded a thoroughly entertaining afternoon that gave us good toreo, and, more importantly, allowed us to enjoy three promising novilleros. There seems to be a promising crop of young novilleros, it’s a pity that, at this critical time, the fiesta seems to be neglecting such an important part of its own development. 

 

Algeciras 26/06/14 - Castella and Fuente Ymbro triumph

Juan José Padilla (some jeers and an ear), Sebastián Castella (an ear from each bull) & Iván Fandiño (some claps and silence).

 

A decent string of Fuente Ymbro bulls laid the foundations for an interesting afternoon of bulls. Small, but acceptably presented given the category of bull ring, they possessed enough quality charges to allow for two very good faenas from Sebastián Castella’s and Padilla’s minor triumph. Castella’s bulls was especially good, a classy first bull and a profound second, who was justifiably awarded a posthumous lap of honour. Ivan Fandiño drew a lot of poor bulls and was only allowed to show snippets of his good toreo.  

 

Let us start with the afternoon’s star, Castella. His first bull’s charges were sweet and smooth. Perhaps not what one might expect from Fuente Ymbro, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless. Similarly, this is not necessarily the type of charge that would ordinarily suit Castella’s static toreo, nevertheless, Castella adapted his toreo to suit the bull and was able to extract a notable faena. Although I sometimes find Castella’s toreo en redondo lacking, today he performed it beautifully. The key was keeping the muleta in the bull’s face after each pass in order to link the derechazos and construct the series. Each pass was well timed, and long; fundamental toreo that was moving enough to form the substance of a pleasing faena. A nicely executed sword thrust led to a well-earned ear.

 

The truly important work came with the fifth bull of the afternoon. A very profound Fuente Ymbro whose charges were as classy as Castella’s first, but even longer and marked by greater vigour – had it kept galloping as it did during the first two or three series it might have prompted a petition for an indulto, as it was the lap of honour was a fitting prize. Brave bull this Largapulla.

 

 

 

 

(Incidentally, the bull was run as a sobrero after the beautiful jabonero title bull broke its leg during the first capotazo and was unable to get back to its feet. Thankfully effective work by the puntillero saved us from this most unpleasant spectacle being overly protracted, however I often wonder why there is not a stun gun in the plaza in order to expeditiously deal with such incidents). 

 

If Castella’s faena was marked by the well executed fundamental toreo, this faena, due to the bull’s extra piquancy, was a perfect blend of his spectacular still toreo, and well executed toreo en redondo. Castella dedicated the bull to the public before greeting it in the centre of ring and executing a series of passes cambiados por la espalda and naturales. After some vibrant series of derechazos, the highlight of the faena were two excellent series of naturales. I often feel that Castella’s toreo en redondo, while performed with stillness, is marked by short passes and mechanical execution. I was happy to note that the naturales were long, smooth and well linked. Once again, the key was ensuring that the muleta was well placed between each pass to ensure the bull was hooked for the next natural. It was truly emotive toreo en redondo. Once the bull’s initial vigour had faded, and after ensuring a correct dose of fundamental toreo, Castella concluded with some spectacular figure of eight toreo. It was not pure encimismo, but rather long figure of eight passes on either horn. Unfortunately, a pinchazo preceded a full sword and reduced the prize to one ear.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed Castella this afternoon. It was a great performance from an excellent torero, one that reminded us of the virtues that took him to figura status in 2007, and also, allowed me to lament that he has not been as consistent, since then, as we may have wished. Moreover, the most welcome aspect of the afternoon was his toreo en redondo, this marked the difference between good, and great.

 

The afternoon’s other ear was awarded to Juan José Padilla, who celebrated the twentieth anniversary of his alternativa, after a typical performance of his jovial tremendismo. Padilla may not be to everyone’s taste, his toreo can border on the uncouth, but he is a torero that has faced the toughest and most serious bulls in northern Spain and France and thus deserves my respect. The first two tercios to his second bull were vintage Padilla (make of that what you will): he greeted the bull with two larga cambiadas de rodillas, and once on his feet he performed veronicas, delantales and chicuelinas, it was cyclonic but spectacular. The highlight of the performance was a superb tercio de banderillas. While his toreo de capote was striking rather than profound, his banderillas (especially the first to pairs) were canonical. The first al cuarteo heading from the centre of the ring to the boards, while the second was from the boards to the centre of the ring; both however, were marked by their perfect execution right in front of the bull’s horns. The third pair was al violin, but even so, it was placed with the torero square to the bull. The faena de muleta was practically a non-event. The bull was exhausted and barely had a pass in him; Padilla spent too long trying to get a series en redondo before desisting and concluding with a desplante on his knees. A slowly executed estocada allowed him to cut a deserved ear; although the faena de muleta barely merited an ovation, I feel that his first two tercios merited recognition.

 

Padilla’s first bull was disconcerting. It was manso, but strong. I would have expected Padilla to seek to create a faean with it, or at least lidiarlo sobre las piernas in order to reduce it for the kill. However, Padilla did neither, he felt he could not perform en redondo and gave some half-hearted chop passes; the bull was not good, but Padilla made no attempt to give it a fitting lidia with the muleta.

 

Ivan Fandiño faced a couple of poor bulls and was unable to perform anything of note. The odd derechazo to his first bull had class and was to be savoured, but the bull soon stopped charging and an attempt at a faena was futile. The sixth bull was dangerous and allowed Fandiño to showcase his desire and bravery, but little else.

Hoja de Ruta Hacia un Futuro Mas Cierto

Las ideas plasmadas en este trabajo aparecieron por primera vez en ingles la edición Marzo/Abril 2013 de La Divisa – la revista del Club Taurino de Londres. Este trabajo es una version corta del articulo traducido al castellano, aun escrito en el 2013, creo que las ideas siguen vigentes.

 

Paseíllo

 

Este trabajo nace de mi pesimismo sobre el estado de la fiesta; no tanto acerca del espectáculo que tenemos en este 2014 (las figuras y ganaderías punteras me parecen buenas y, con los lógicos altibajos, proporcionan un espectáculo de interés), sino con su organización. El sector (es decir, principalmente los empresarios que forman la parte estable de la fiesta) no ha creado la estructura adecuada para poder afrontar los problemas que amenazan la fiesta del siglo xxi.

 

Las amenazas son obvias: antes nada, los anti-taurinos abolicionistas, que tanto daño han hecho en Cataluña y ahora tienen la mirada fijada en Galicia y el País Vasco; más generalmente existe una destaurinización de la sociedad; y por último, la crisis económica que, es obvio, afecta el poder adquisitivo de la gente y, como consecuencia, ha disminuido el dinero que se puede gastar en ocio.  

 

Así pues, estas son mis modestas ideas de como la fiesta puede organizarse para seguir vigente en el futuro, para que el pesimismo imperante se torne en optimismo.

 

1.      Concesión de las Plazas y El Empresariado

 

(i)               Modelo de concesión; la mayoría de las plazas son de propiedad pública y se conceden a empresarios taurinos por un plazo fijo. Hay varios problemas importantes con este modelo:

 

(a)    no ayuda a crear una gestión largoplacista por parte del empresario; ¿para qué sembrar para un futuro que va a recoger otro? El objetivo es llevarse el dinero durante su gestión y no en invertir para el bien de la plaza y de la afición de una ciudad. Queremos que los empresarios y las plazas hagan buen negocio, pero también que parte de las ganancias se reinviertan en la fiesta;

 

(b)   no hay unidad entre plazas, aunque todas forman parte de la geografía taurina y juntas crean la temporada, cada plaza es una isla. Así pues, cada empresario está enfocado en su plaza y no hay una gestión ni visión global de cómo cada feria puede encajar en la temporada; y

 

(c)    la visión largoplacista de cada plaza la debería tener la propiedad pública local, pero no es asi; rara vez valoran el proyecto taurino de un empresa (es decir, es más importante a veces el dinero que el proyecto).

 

(ii)               Gestión indirecta funciona, pero no es común. Además, aunque la gestión indirecta soluciona en parte el problema (a) y (c), todavía padecemos del problema (b).

 

(iii)             Este, para mis, es el problema más grave, la fiesta está a la merced de los políticos y empresarios que manejan la plaza local. Falta una plataforma que encabece la fiesta y que trabaje para el bien de la fiesta en todos sus sentidos. En el contexto de la concesión de las plazas, se debería buscar una fórmula que:

 

(a)     asegure que cada plaza tenga una estrategia largoplacista que ayude consolidar y fomentar la afición en esa ciudad;

(b)   la gestión de cada plaza se piense en el contexto local y global, es decir, teniendo en cuenta las idiosincrasias de cada afición, que cada plaza aporte algo a la fiesta en general; y

(c)    que sea una plataforma que regule la fiesta sin interferencia política.

 

(iv)             Aunque esto es difícil a nivel local por el hecho de que las plazas son de propiedad pública, por lo menos debemos de asegurarnos que los reglamentos de la fiesta las elabore la fiesta en sí, no unos políticos – ¿se imaginan que el parlamento Andaluz (o el Vasco o el Catalán) elaborara el reglamento de futbol en su región?  No, claro, seria ridículo, las reglas del futbol las elabora la FIFA, entonces, ¿porque existe ese control político sobre la fiesta?

 

2.      Relaciones Públicas

 

(i)                 Es asombroso que la fiesta no tenga un departamento de relaciones públicas. Un organismo para ayudar la fiesta a combatir las campañas mentirosas de los antis es imprescindible, y el sector no se ha preocupado en formarlo. Esto es síntoma de los problemas que glosamos en la sección 1 – al no haber una plataforma central, cada cual va a su aire y no se preocupa por la imagen de la fiesta en un término general. La actitud parece ser: ¿para qué invertir mi dinero para aliviar un problema de todos?

 

(ii)               Los antis, que están más unidos y trabajan más para compartir su mensaje con la sociedad tienen a conocidas figuras al frente de sus campañas (y no hace falta que yo le haga publicidad gratuita aquí). La fiesta no tiene a nadie – cuando la hora llega de defender la fiesta, sea en un periódico, un debate público, la TV o el parlamento, se sacan unas caras conocidas que pueden tener valor individual, pero no se presenta un mensaje global sobre la fiesta que muestre los valores de la fiesta y argumentos que tengan mayor pegada entre la gente: se enfoca la cultura, cuando también se debe resaltar la aportación económica, por ejemplo. Además, la ventaja de tener un defensor “profesional” es que manejaría con facilidad todos los argumentos y los datos a nuestro favor.

 

(iii)             No sería difícil organizar – todo tipo de empresas o bien tienen un departamento de relaciones públicas o contratan los servicios de empresas profesionales. Solo falta un cambio de chip para que los empresarios (que son los productores y promotores del espectáculo) vieran su trabajo más allá de la formula toro/torero/taquilla.

 

(iv)             Hay que desarrollar una estrategia a tres niveles:

 

(a)    alto nivel, un lobby político para tratar de evitar atropellos a la fiesta a nivel local (caso Utrera o Burgos), regional (la situación Catalana, y ahora Gallega y Vasca) o nacional (para que cada uno de los partidos políticos mayoritarios vean el poder de convocatoria que tiene la fiesta y la respalden);

(b)   nivel medio, los medios de comunicación, mejorar la imagen que se da en los medio de comunicación – El Juli y Manzanares están haciendo buen trabajo en este sentido, aparecen en medios de tirada nacional sin recurrir a los tópicos del corazón. Además, se debería buscar un trato a la fiesta que esté acorde con su posición como segundo espectáculo de masas. Que la gente conozcan la fiesta, el campo y el toro; y

(c)    a nivel base, hay que acercar a el hombre de la calle a la fiesta. Las iniciativas de toreo de salón público es un buen ejemplo; se ve que la gente tiene interés en los toros siempre y cuando se le presenta la fiesta en un modo dinámico, fresco y atractivo.   

 

(v)               Tres estrategias de comunicación:

 

(a)    cada noticia anti debe tener una respuesta de sector. La mayoría de las noticias antis se basan en una mentira (por ejemplo las preguntas de los verdes sobre el IVA), esto se debe rebatir o la gente acaba creyéndose la mentira;

(b)   tomar una postura pro-activa, poner en valor las virtudes de la tauromaquia, y hacerlo a los niveles mencionados en sección 2(iv); y

(c)    rehabilitación de la imagen de la fiesta. La gente tiene una visión distorsionada de la fiesta; hay que cambiar este tópico. Que el público conozca a los toreros y ganaderías punteras de este 2013 y no solo se guie por las modas populistas.

 

 

3. La Televisión

 

(i)                 La estrategia de la fiesta para y con la televisión esta en mente de todos, y fue uno de los puntos que ha marcado las dos últimas temporadas. Entre el festejo de TVE y las ferias del plus, lo que quedó claro es que la estrategia de la TV y la fiesta está marcada por las casas de la TV y no por el sector.

 

(ii)               Partimos de dos bases, primero, una corrida por televisión carece de la emoción de una corrida in situ, de acuerdo, pero, segundo,  la televisión es clave para la divulgación de cualquier espectáculo del siglo xxi. Hay que reconciliar estas dos realidades opuestas y elaborar un  plan de TV.

 

(iii)             La única plataforma que da corridas en todo el territorio español es Canal + toros. El experimento de TVE de septiembre 2012 ha tardado una año en repetirse. La ventaja del plus es que el aficionado puede disfrutar de unas 60 corridas a año de las ferias más importantes. Lo malo, es que es un canal al que solo el aficionado accederá y ignora la mayoría de corridas de segunda (en las cuales a menudo se ve torear más y mejor que en las ferias de primera).

 

(iv)             Conflicto TV/taquilla. Esto no es exclusivo al toreo. Nada menos que la NFL, la liga de fútbol profesional americana y la liga de deportes con mayor número de espectadores en el mundo está preocupada  de lo mismo. Hoy en día es mucho más cómodo de quedarse en casa para disfrutar una tarde de deportes por la tele en HD que ir al estadio. ¿Si la NFL sufre estos problemas, como no va padecer lo mismo la fiesta? La respuesta no está en cerrar las plazas a las cámaras para proteger la taquilla (como hizo Sevilla) sino buscar una fórmula para hacer que la plaza siga teniendo un gran atractivo al gran público; con la afición no hay problemas, todos los aficionados sabemos que no hay color entre presenciar una corrida en vivo y en la tele. Volviendo a la NFL, ella saben que cerrar los estadios a la tele es suicidio (la gran culpa de la vigencia actual de la NFL en los Estados Unidos es que ella supo en los años 70 las posibilidades que ofrecía la televisión, y trabajo para usar la tele para ayudar su producto).

 

(v)               Así pues, la fiesta debe elaborar una política televisiva. Las claves para esto son obvias: la calidad y la variedad. Hay que buscar los espectáculos que muestren la mejor visión de la fiesta, el futbol, por ejemplo, ofrece los mejores partidos de primera para la televisión, y nunca a mi equipo local de Segunda B… Esto puede ser difícil, porque la corrida no se cata hasta que salga el toro, pero el mundillo está bien enterado de las corridas que se han organizado con más posibilidades. La otra clave es variedad; hay que buscar un variedad de espectáculos, encastes diferentes, toreros diferentes y plazas diferentes. Esto tiene una doble ventaja, por un lado, las empresas podrán ver cuáles son los toreros y las combinaciones con más tirón, mientras que el gran público podrá ver a toreros que quizá no conozcan. Por último, está claro que la fiesta no puede vivir en el gueto de un canal de pago; por lo mucho que le ha beneficiado al aficionado ver a todas as grandes ferias por el plus, nos tenemos que abrir a la televisión en abierto nacional.

 

(vi)             Además, el toreo debe usar la televisión más allá de las retransmisiones en directo. Hay que trabajar con las empresas de televisión para que haya un cobertura completa de la fiesta (lo mismo que hay cobertura en las noticias de TVE para una obra de teatro que, por muy válida que sea, atrae a menos espectadores en una semana que Las Ventas en una tarde de postín). Parte de lo que me atrae a los toros es todo el mundo complejo que lo rodea, es decir, la historia del toreo, su técnica, el campo, la evolución del toro y los diferentes estilos de torear. Hay que pensar en elaborar este tipo de programas didácticos; la popularidad de Toros Para Todos (que me agrada aunque le peguen palos los aficionados más “puros”) nos dice que al público le puede gustar un programa de toros que presenta el toro y el campo con frescura.

 

4. Mejorar la Calidad del Espectaculo

 

(i)                 Desgraciadamente, el nivel medio de una corrida de toros no es lo deseable (una doble desgracia dado que los mejores toreros y las mejores ganaderías están a un buen nivel, el problema está en la confección del espectáculo). Todos sabemos que tratando con una materia prima como toro bravo, cualquier garantía es una utopía. Pero, aun así, los taurinos deben cuidar la calidad del espectáculo, y buscar las combinaciones de toros, toreros y plazas que mejor opciones ofrezcan del triunfo. El problema es que muchas corridas se confeccionan sin pensar en la calidad del espectáculo, sino en el aspecto económico del mismo. La denominada fórmula del éxito del fracaso. Basándose en el amparo del abono, se buscan combinaciones de toreros modestos que solo atraen a los abonados pero, como los costes son bajos, el empresario hace caja. Claro, los empresarios dicen que los honorarios de las figuras no las cubre una entrada de “no hay billetes”, así que necesitan las combinaciones modestas para poder cuadrar las cuentas. No quiero entrar en el debate de quien tiene razón, sino advertir que existe el problema, y que los taurinos (que por algo son los profesionales) piensen en cómo organizar espectáculos que sean un éxito económico y artístico (ya sé que no hay garantías, pero una corrida con mejores toros y toreros ofrece más posibilidades de triunfo).    

 

(ii)               La clave está en promover la elite; que los mejores toreros (que son los más caros) se programen con los mejores toros (que también son los más caros). Cualquier espectáculo sobrevive gracias a su elite – el fútbol tiene la vigencia que tiene por la liga de campeones, por los partidos Madrid-Barca y Messi y Ronaldo, no por la Segunda B o el Real Madrid Castilla. Sin embargo, en la fiesta, los vilipendiados son las figuras, mientras que a algún modesto que cae en gracia se le alaba (todos recordamos de toreros así que han dado la vuelta a España y el toro le devuelve a su sitio).

 

(iii)             Sin embargo, aunque el éxito de los espectáculos se basa en la elite, no se puede olvidar de la cantera – el éxito del futbol no depende del Real Madrid Castilla, pero este equipo le da cobijo a la cantera y le da una oportunidad de aprender su oficio. Del mismo modo,  hay que buscar la fórmula para combinar promover la elite sin olvidarse de los aprendices. Salvando las distancias, una fórmula que se puede elaborar se podría basar en el tenis. De la misma forma que en la fiesta existen varias clases de plaza, en el tenis hay diferentes niveles de torneos que se pueden comparar a las ferias de primera, segunda y tercera. Cada tipo de torneo tiene un diferente perfil de jugadores. Todos los mejores tenistas están en los principales torneos (igualito que en la fiesta, adonde la ausencia de una figura u otra es casi una regla de plaza de primera), mientras que tenistas más modestos tienen su oportunidad de triunfar en torneos menos importantes. Comprándolo as los toros, no es deseable que las mayorías de las tardes de San Isidro, no tengan el nivel deseable de toros y toreros (hablando de San Isidro, hay que cuidar, y mucho, la calidad de espectáculo que se da en el mayor escaparate para la fiesta – es nefasto que San Isidro sea una especie de via crucis para el aficionado).

 

(iv)             Aunque en esta sección he escrito mayormente sobre toreros, está claro que también se debe cuidar la materia prima de la fiesta; el toro. Todos sabemos que ganaderías funcionan, y cuáles son las que ofrecen pocas posibilidades de éxito (a priori, claro, en el toro, nada, nunca, es fijo). Además, se debe cuidar la variedad de la cabaña brava. Nadie que conoce mi afición me calificaría de “torista”, pero me interesa el toro bravo en toda su extensión, y me encantaría ver más variedad de toros en la plaza. Sé que muchas ganaderías denominadas toristas no embisten, pero también hay muchas de Domecq que están podridas (no hace falta nombrar nombres, están en mente de todos); la clave está en buscar lo mejor de cada encaste y resaltarlo.

 

(v)               Además de mejorar el espectáculo en sí, hay que pensar en la experiencia global del espectador. Lo primero es asegurar la comodidad del espectador. Esto es primordial, hasta el cartel más apetitoso se agria si uno piensa que hay que padecer un par de horas de incomodidad en una plaza no apta para el siglo xxi. Ha habido mejoras en este aspecto recientemente (la mejora de las gradas en Sevilla y El Puerto por ejemplo), pero aún hace falta más.  Esto puede sonar a utópico por los elevados costes de las mejoras, pero más caro nos sale la jugada si las plazas se quedan desiertas por incomodas (conozco a espectadores que no van a determinadas plazas en su comarca por la incomodidad de las mismas). Más allá de la comodidad de las plazas, se pueden pensar en más ideas para atraer al público y mejorar su experiencia en la plaza. Una idea que se está pensando en el ámbito de los estadios de deportes es facilitar acceso a wifi en los mismos, todavía hay barreras tecnológicas para que esto se convierta en realidad, pero muestra el tipo de ideas que otros sectores están elaborando para atraer al espectador. Hay que recordar lo cómodo que uno está en casa viendo su deporte/espectáculo preferido en la tele, en alta definición, tuiteando sobre el mismo desde su ipad y disfrutando del aire acondicionado – los espectáculos en vivo tienen que innovar para poder competir con esta oferta.

 

5.         Financiación

 

(i)                 Aunque pueda parecerlo por los escrito, no soy un iluso – entiendo que mis propuestas costaran dinero; un  dinero que no es abundante en este 2013 marcado por la crisis. Por eso, esta última sección está dedicada a ideas que puedan ayudar para incrementar el dinero recaudado por las empresas. Ya sé que estas no son unas soluciones fáciles al problema, pero espero que sirvan de un aviso a navegantes que hay que pensar en algo más que la taquilla y el bar para financiar la fiesta.

 

(ii)               Los dos costes más importantes para el empresario son los toros y los toreros; así que, cuando las empresas se aprietan los cinturones, lo primero que hacen es recortarle el dinero al torero y el ganadero (que además son los que menos resistencia ofrecen). Está clarísimo que esto va en contra de lo que es mejor para el espectáculo – para mejorar la calidad de la fiesta hay que pagar para la elite (véase párrafo 4(i)). Esto no quiere decir que no se deben buscar fórmulas para abaratar costes, es que hay que pensar cuales son los costes que menos afectan la integridad del espectáculo. La respuesta es fácil, los costes administrativos. La administración hace poco para la fiesta, hay que ver el trabajo de algunos blogueros taurinos importantes que demuestran que la fiesta, por lo general, no recibe ayudas de la administración, y que ésta apenas reinvierte lo que recibe de la fiesta en la misma, pero recibe gran parte del pastel. El problema de enfrentarse a la administración es que el sector taurino no tiene ninguna musculatura para poder negociar ningún cambio – mejor dicho, el sector taurino nunca se ha preocupado en organizarse debidamente para adquirir tal musculatura. 

 

(iii)             Dado las dificultades de asegurar cualquier descuento de la administración (y más en esta época de crisis), la fiesta debe pensar en otras fuentes de ingreso. Las más asequibles, para mí son: la televisión y productos basados en la fiesta. Ya he hablado sobre el papel de la televisión en la sección 3. Es de suponer que una mejor política de televisión pueda resultar, a la larga, en un mayor ingreso para la fiesta. Solo hay que echarle una mirada al deporte para ver la riqueza que puede proporcionar la televisión; el órdago para la fiesta es desarrollar un espectáculo que interese a la televisión.

 

(iv)             En cualquier concierto de pop o rock y cualquier estadio deportivo hay un puesto o una tienda vendiendo productos de marca. Los toros son diferentes. No es que no se vende nada, es que no se ha creado ninguna línea de productos de marca. Seguro que aficionados (especialmente los jóvenes) les gustaría tener un recuerdo de la corrida, o mostrar su apoyo para la fiesta o un toreo. Pero apenas tienen la oportunidad. Además, no solo se trata de hacer caja con la venta de productos de marca, es que estos productos dan una publicidad gratis a la fiesta. Se puede decir que un torero, o un ganadero, se pueda preocupar para promocionar su línea, pero ellos bastante tienen en torear y criar toros. Lo suyo es tener una organización central que se dedique en desarrollar este tipo de iniciativas para la fiesta.

 

(v)               Esto solo son unas pocas ideas de cómo desarrollar nuevas fuentes de ingreso para la fiesta. Alguna puede ser que funcione, otra no, pero lo suyo es de aportar ideas nuevas al sector. Está claro que el marketing es una de sus asignaturas pendientes.   

 

Arrastre

 

Estas han sido mis ideas para aportar mi granito de arena al futuro de la fiesta. Son el producto de mi frustración para y con la fiesta; ella ha sido una de la grandes pasiones de mi vida, y tanto su futuro como mi disfrute de ella ha estado comprometida por su mala administración. Creo que es un espectáculo que puede sobrevivir y crecer en el siglo xxi – pero ha de cambiar. Espero que los que están al timón puedan hacerlo.