On August 25, Manuel Escribano (Gerena, Seville, 1984) locked himself in with six bulls from different ranches in the Tarifa bullring in Cadiz to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of his alternative. And there, in a town to which he feels close for family reasons and sheltered by a loving public, he displayed a varied and deep bullfighting, based on poise and good taste, skill and sufficiency. And the resounding success he achieved at the last April Fair against a bullfight by Victorino Martín still resonates. Aside from the trophies obtained, there is clear evidence that Escribano is a valid bullfighter beyond the tough bullfights, and that is his main endeavour today.
“The fundamental truth of my life is that I have achieved everything thanks to a maximum effort to overcome excessive toughness, and even today I cannot allow myself a single afternoon of failure,” he says. “But I have also refined my bullfighting over time,” he continues, “so that in addition to absolute dedication from beginning to end, my bullfighting seeks purity, is broad in capacity and knowledge of the fight, powerful and extremely demanding.”
AskThe general impression is that its concept is more physical than artistic…
AnswerNo. It is true that physical preparation has helped me against the type of bulls I usually fight and to overcome the serious gorings I have suffered, but I believe that there is composure and classicism in my hands.
“The fundamental truth of my life is that I have achieved everything thanks to a maximum effort to overcome excessive hardness”
PBut you are still pigeonholed into hard bullfights.
R. Agreed. It is also the circumstances of each person. My concept is also valid for this type of bullfight and it is logical that companies and part of the public want to see me in them; but there is another facet of my bullfighting that I am interested in showing. It is a goal and a motivation. In the same way that the stars are sometimes required to fight other types of bulls, I want to show that I can offer another vision of my bullfighting. It is not about changing my concept or being a bullfighter of pinch, which I am not, but I can bullfight just as long and tempered as other colleagues.
PSo, do you think that your assessment of bullfighting is not adequate?
RI am where I should be, but I aspire to much more, and I think I have given reasons for this. I do not complain or reject the way people value me, because I have been doing this for ten years, but I should be in other fairs and in other types of bullfights because I know that my personality and my bullfighting would fit perfectly.
PAnd do you see that wish as possible?
RIt should have been a reality for a long time, but changing the system of drawing up posters is not easy.
This concern of Manuel Escribano is one of the fundamental claims of the book Bullfighting and truth (Ed. El Paseíllo), which the bullfighter recently published in collaboration with his friend Antonio Ramírez de Arellano, professor of Physics, who was rector of the University of Seville and Minister of Economy of the Andalusian Government.
The bullfighter reviews in first person the many vicissitudes of a 20-year career in the bullring, and justifies the text by saying that he has gone through “all the possible experiences of someone who dresses in lights: oblivion, triumph, serious gorings, some of them very serious, the direction of an independent manager, effort, sacrifice, personal satisfaction and the constant struggle to advance in the profession; I think that these are values that should be recorded for fans, for professionals, and, above all, for young people who are living through similar situations” to his.
P. You mentioned forgetting first.
RThat is the hardest experience, and I suffered it in my first ten years as an alternative matador; the most difficult to bear, the worst, even more than the gorings. When you are forgotten, you are forgotten even by those closest to you. You have to have a great love for the profession, an excessive passion to continue even if you know that you will not have any profit.
PHe has also enjoyed the highest level of triumph. The two ears to the bull Datilero de Miura at the April Fair in 2013, replacing El Juli, and the pardon to the Victorino Cobradiezmos at the same Maestranza in 2016…
R. Yes. That first bullfight was a real gift, but even though I was unemployed, I only lived for bullfighting, dedicated entirely to constant training and ready to give my life if necessary. I had done my homework and was able to take advantage of the opportunity from start to finish. Then, Cobradiezmos… When I saw his charge, I knew that he was the bull of my life, and at that very moment a doubt assailed me: if I don’t get him, my career is over…
PBoth victories are believed to have had a very positive impact on his career.
R. Both caused a great impact among the fans, but not the expected response because two very serious injuries curbed my expectations: in September 2013, a bull tore my iliac vein in Sotillos de la Adrada (Ávila), and I thought I was going to die; and in June 2016, two months after the pardon, another tore out my femoral vein and internal saphenous vein in Alicante. These mishaps meant many months of rehabilitation and, what is worse, forced me to start from scratch. If you are out of the circuit for a while, everyone forgets about you.
“Forgetting is the hardest experience, the most difficult to bear, even worse than being gored”
P. Two cases of real bad luck…
RThat’s why I said that I have lived through everything that can happen in bullfighting, but, thank God, I am here and I can tell it thanks to my physical condition, and my capacity for suffering, for overcoming and self-love. The year of Cobradiezmos I had signed up for 70 bullfights, my bullfighting and economic value changed, but I fell in Alicante and had to go back to square one.
P. And he still lives with physical after-effects…
R. Regarding the Sotillos goring, none, but many remind me every day of the one in Alicante. My blood circulation is terrible, my right leg is that of an elderly person, and I have no mobility in my ankle or toes, which causes other injuries due to not supporting my foot properly, but I try not to let them show in the ring. In exchange, I must take constant care, and thanks to my physical trainer and the physiotherapist José Salas I can bullfight. A bullfighter cannot show his weaknesses.
P. Despite everything, you look happy.
RI am. I do what I like, I make a living from it and I have the qualities and ability to improve. Bullfighting is about overcoming adversity and getting better every day. That is my dream.