When the mules were preparing to drag the second bull of the afternoon, the clock struck seven in the afternoon. The celebration had started an hour ago. Just at that moment, a large group of oriental tourists got up from their seats and diligently and quietly left the square. They were, without a doubt, the smartest in the place.
Those who stayed endured one of the most soporific and worrying afternoons of the season: three kids of no more than twenty years old, with some budding and successful careers behind them, made a mess from which it will take them a while to recover, if they do.
Not a single ovation was heard by any of the three, nor a muletazo to remember, nor a bullfighter detail; The three were dangerously shipwrecked before a well-presented bullfight, generally compliant on the horses and noble in the final third. But everything emerged disorganized, muddled, without head or tail, without ideas.
It is true that Romero stood out in a takeoff for tight gaoneras in the first, as did his partner Chicharro in the second, to which Romero responded for chicuelinas; and Valentín tried it for tafalleras in the third, but neither was able to capture the public’s attention.
There were, at least, good pairs of banderillas by Raúl Ruiz, Jesús Robledo Tito, Víctor del Pozo and, especially, Juan Carlos Rey in the sixth of the afternoon, but no more.
You have to be patient to endure an afternoon like today. The bullfighters heard up to seven warnings, conclusive proof that they are annoying and that they bored the sheep with tasks that were as dull as they were long, and without any basis. It will be true that there is a current of thought in the training program for bullfighters that defends that muleta tasks should not be delimited by the clock, so that each person dedicates the time they consider necessary. If this rule were ever imposed, the disappearance of the festival would be imminent, because there would be no human soul that could endure them.
Very superficial Valentín Hoyos, bothered by the wind in his first; He began his work on his knees in the fourth and gave passes and more passes without any interest. Some loose muletazo from Romero with his right hand in the second, and nothing before the fifth, the most stopped; Some tight statuaries from Chicharro before the third gave way to a very messy work, and he was unable to give a clean muleta hit before the sixth repeater. And the three bullfighters prolonged their tasks to the point of exhaustion and killed very poorly. A horror.
Today’s afternoon would deserve the three bullfighters to seriously reflect on their present and future. Either they change their attitude or they will have to think about another profession before it is too late.
Source Ymbro/Hoyos, Romero, Chicharro
Steers of Font Ymbrowell presented, gentle first and fourth in rods, generally compliant the rest, noble and with little zeal in the final third.
Valentin Hoyos: three punctures _warning_ four crazy things and the bull lies down (silence); metisaca and lunge _notice_ (silence).
For Romero: puncture _notice_ puncture, half a thrust, a madness _2nd warning_ and three madnesses (silence); jab and low thrust (silence).
Alejandro Chicharro: two punctures _warning_ two punctures, almost entire rear and fall _2nd warning_ (silence); low thrust _warning_ two crazy things and the bull lies down (silence).
Plaza de las Ventas. October 3. Third celebration of the Autumn Fair. Three quarters of entry (16,274 spectators, according to the company).