On the afternoon of May 11, Pepe Moral (Los Palacios, Sevilla, 38 years old) was planted at the teacher’s gang door with the loser poster embedded in the back. He had not stepped on the Sevillian pool for three years and his name was lost in the long list of so many who aroused illusions that withered over time.
His career – the alternative took place on June 11, 2009 in the Andalusian capital – has followed an irregular line, a winding mountain in which hopeful triumphs, empty afternoons, personal abinggakes, personal discouragement and detour from the road that leads to success are crossed. But, up or down, the classic bullfighting conception of morals has remained intact.
Perhaps, therefore, the walk of that afternoon, stepped on after footprint, was the intimate conviction that the change was possible. Few knew it, but the bullfighter was in charge of demonstrating him before two little collaborators of the legendary iron of Miura.
Two ears at the April Fair, an open smile in the countenance of a man with scars in the soul, and, again, hope. Days later, a substitution at the Pamplona Fair, and a new triumph against a prize bull; Tomorrow, Saturday, it is announced at the Malaga Fair, and on Sunday, in the Magellan Corrida held in Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz).
I have changed my way of thinking, living, feeding, I take care of me and I am close to the people who love me ”
“And waiting for more substitutions to arise and some proposals for September are materialized,” says the bullfighter. “And very well mood, better than I was expected before Seville,” he continues, “because then he had only that run and today I see the future more clearly.”
Ask. Is it true that this celebration was raised as a turning point in your career?
Answer. Definitely. Bullfighting in Seville after such a long absence was a very serious commitment. Triumphing meant returning to the professional circuit, and going blank would force me to make a rethinking of my life.
P. Had he thought about abandoning the profession?
R. Don’t know; I had not raised it that way. I was sure that something would change and I felt like that. I was very clear about what I wanted. I had nothing determined but, if necessary, the circumstances would have forced me to reflect on the future.
P. It is not the first time that a difficulty of this type is presented. Already in 2014 he lived another similar situation in the same place.
R. That’s right, but that moment was harder. He had only torhed nine runs from the alternative, and that afternoon of Corpus in Seville was a real face or cross. Fortunately, I was able to cut two ears to the bulls of the count of the Maza and channel my career.
P. Either way, his career has been plagued with ups and downs …
R. First, my seasons have been focused on televised runs in Seville, Madrid and Pamplona that have given me a lot of visibility, but the number of celebrations has always been low. And it is true that I have crossed potholes, either by inopportune injuries or for personal problems.
P. The most serious and most harmed injury was harmed, perhaps, the one that suffered on February 10, 2019 in Valdemorillo before a bull in Miura.
R. Definitely. The bull broke the anterior cross ligament, the two meniscus and the quadriceps of the left leg. I entered up to four times in the operating room, I kept bullfighting without being fully recovered and that hard trance affected me physically and psychologically and, consequently, had its negative impact on the ring.
P. And you have said that the last two have not been the best of your life in the personal field.
R. That’s right, and it has been due to neglect, for not being centered as it should, for not doing things well, in short. And I wondered why that change in my life, and I concluded that the cause of everything was myself. If I had been doing the same for a while and did not leave the bump, it is evident that the person in charge is me. And I decided to change life. I have changed my way of thinking, living, feeding, I take care of me and I am close to the people who love me. In a word, I try to give importance to the positive elements that surround me.
P. It seems that he has lived, at the same time, a process of spiritual change …
R. Thanks to a friend I went to a religious retirement from El Camino de Emaus, and has meant for me a before and after in my life. He approached God and provided me with the peace he needed for everything to flow better.
A religious retreat from El Camino de Emaus approached God and has meant a before and after in my life ”
P. You can affirm, then, that you are a new man.
R. Completely. I am the same moral pepe always, but I feel with the illusion of that child who with 10 years began to dream of being a bullfighter.
P. So you arrived in Seville with the renewed mood.
R. What I can say is that that afternoon I lived very intensely; I think it is the most important of my trajectory as a bullfighter and that he will score forever. I have the conviction that, from Seville, everything will be different, to what logically contributes the change in mentality and lifestyle. I don’t know if the future will be better or worse, but I think I’m going to be happy.
P. By the way, what has these last two years lived in which he has fought very little?
R. I traveled to Peru, and there, surviving, I got to fight about 40 runs and has served me as a source of income. Those scenarios are very hard on the roads, because there are no nurses, because of the bull that was dealt with, but it has also helped me to find myself and see everything clearer.
P. Tomorrow is announced at the Malaga Fair with Bulls of Murteira Grave; On Sunday, in the Magellan Corrida of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, with a confinement of Miura, and then to wait …
R. I’m going to put everything on me. Being a bullfighter is my vocation and what makes me happy. And I want to show that I remain valid. ”