Morante de la Puebla, very serious after being gored by the fourth bull of the bullfight in La Maestranza | Culture

All the somersaults are unpleasant, but Morante’s today in La Maestranza, shocking, has been especially cruel and not only because of the injury inflicted, but because it has broken the bullfight, the spirit of all the spectators, and who knows if the Sevillian bullfighter’s season.

After cutting off his first one’s ear, Morante smiling and confident at all times, tried, cape in hand, to stop the fourth, Clandestine, Hermanos García Jiménez’s bull weighing 512 kilos, very loose and distracted at the start. Suddenly, it came upon him, overwhelmed him with unusual force and threw him violently against the albero; Once there, he looked for it viciously, and stomped on it in the lumbar area while the bullfighter, with a pained expression, put his left hand on his buttock without, at first, blood gushing out and only a small hole appeared in the satchel at the level of the left thigh. He was taken to the infirmary, and the medical report clarified that the seizure was more serious than it seemed at first.

The medical report signed by Dr. Octavio Mulet, chief surgeon at the Plaza de la Maestranza infirmary in Seville, described the goring of Morante de la Puebla as “very serious,” as he underwent an intervention that lasted more than two hours. Specifically, according to the doctors, it is a “bull horn wound in the posterior anal margin with a trajectory of about 10 centimeters, partially injuring the anal sphincter muscles, with a 1.5 centimeter perforation in the posterior aspect of the rectum.” The intervention, the report continues, consisted of washing the wound, repairing the rectal wall and the sphincter apparatus, leaving aspiration drainage in the post-anal and retrorectal space.

The celebration remained hand in hand; but the square was saddened and moved. Nobody expected that an afternoon that was presumed successful would end with Morante in the infirmary.

The truth is that the bullfight began with the best omens. Morante, full of spirit, seemed ready to open the Prince’s Gate that the misuse of the rapier prevented him from doing last Thursday.

With astonishing security and confidence he offered a masterful lesson with the cape in his first. First, with four chicuelinas, subtly drawn, next to the boards; Next, a cut to the Veronica in which there were a couple of bull posters, and, finally, another for gaoneras as soft as they were slow.

The bull of the García Jiménez Brothers, as later happened with the entire bullfight, was tame on the horse, but was full of breed, greed, mobility and class, in such a way that Morante’s work, full of grace and dazzling brushstrokes, with some splendid muletazos, lacked the necessary connection and depth. Perhaps, there was a lack of power, command and rest before a bull that charged tirelessly and exuded fixity in all its movements. The finality that the bull breed demanded was lacking. He killed with a thrust from which he came out with the broken satchel and walked an ear that he knew little about.

From then on, the celebration reached a high intensity and a tension inappropriate for current bullfights; and the responsibility fell to some very strong bulls, with a lot of nerve, who nobly sold their lives and forced two young bullfighters to risk their lives.

Borja Jiménez has kept the Puerta del Príncipe ajar and has closed it because he is a textbook punctuator. He has been an unquestionable figure in bullfighting, but with a pending subject that he must pass quickly if he does not want to lose such a high title.

He received his first with graceful veronicas and chicuelinas, offered the death of the bull to Morante, and showed himself dedicated and solvent against a vibrant opponent, with a tireless attack and exquisite class. But he killed him badly with an almost entire detached thrust, and the entire prize was reduced to a trophy. Before the one he killed in place of Morante, another animal of the same character as his brothers, he once again showed himself as a resourceful bullfighter, with a sense of temper and the best technique, but he failed again with the steel.

And he had the third left. Jiménez came out ready to die. She waited for him on her knees at the bullpen door with a tight long change; In that same position, Veronique easily attacked a bull that charged with unusual genius and greed. The last third began with four passes exchanged behind the back, with unlimited delivery and truly commendable pride. His was a vibrant task, between the strong character of the animal and the pride of the bullfighter. An epic battle in its purest form. He mounted the sword and showed his weakness again, so that the Prince’s Gate was closed permanently.

Tomás Rufo completed the shortlist, and he did not have his afternoon. He tried every possible way, but his two bulls demanded a depth that he did not display. Many insipid muleta blows before his first, agile, combative and brave; and more of the same in the other, tireless, repetitive, with fixity and rhythm. The bullfighter left empty-handed.

The pain of the afternoon was carried away by the smiling and cheerful Morante, who now rests in a Sevillian hospital bed.