Roca Rey and Aguado, the crown and the aroma | Culture

The real bullfighting, the long, deep, beautiful natural, the grace, the poise and the harmony emerged from the left hand of Pablo Aguado in the third bull of the afternoon, but the sceptre, the command and the status as the leading figure of current bullfighting belong, without any doubt, to Roca Rey.

The Peruvian was carried out on shoulders for the second time after a resounding performance from start to finish, imperfect, of course, but overflowing with dedication, courage, stage control and power.

He received both of his bulls on his knees in the middle with long passes full of emotion due to the risk of doing so in front of two well-armed bulls. He fought the first one with aprons and with the cape behind his back, and then he showed off with a chicuelina pass; the second, on his knees again, he veroniqued with grace and good taste, and shocked the stands with a very tight pass with gaoneras.

With the muleta in hand, he showed his shortcomings on the right in the first, with a caste and class, with a couple of straight series without any depth; but he improved noticeably with the zura, with which he drew a bunch of natural passes of very good quality on a par with the quality of his opponent. As he saw that this did not mobilize the masses, he opted for the bull’s gorge, the reckless displays, the circular passes and a display on the same horns with the muleta in the sand. The estocada was defective, the animal took a long time to die and the prize was reduced to a trophy.

There were no knee passes in the fifth, and the bullfight began with some high passes with the foot firmly planted. There was control and connection, and also an advantageous attitude, with the right hand in front of a quality bull; and he stood out again with his natural passes before the bull threatened to flee from the burning. Another series of right passes, two inverted circular passes and a good estocada allowed him to parade another trophy.

Debatable, yes, but you cannot deny bread and salt to someone who exudes the attitude of a first-class figure, and Roca Rey has left Pamplona revalued in the scepter of current bullfighting.

And it must be said that artistic inspiration came down from the heavens from the Sevillian Pablo Aguado, who had gracefully veroniqueado the second bull of the afternoon in a pass, and felt like an artist with the third, another animal with class, which allowed him to draw natural passes full of bullfighting magic, extremely tempered, eternal, of captivating beauty. It is true that the feeling remained that the bull deserved more, that there was little control throughout the entire faena, but there were the brushstrokes of high-level bullfighting. The same did not happen with the sixth, less brilliant than the previous one, which Aguado limited himself to accompanying on the journey, almost always detached and with little confidence.

And there Cayetano was with very few ideas. He seemed eager, he fought the most boring lot, and his bullfighting style was nothing more than vulgar, always detached and relieved, without a hint of command. Surprisingly, a few spectators requested without reason the ear at the death of the one who opened the square. As the president resisted, Cayetano looked at the box with an angry face, annoyed with what he considered, without a doubt, an injustice. Reality dictated the verdict: when they dragged the bull they did not even take it out to salute. The president was right.