Valencia July Fair: Poor Fair, poor plaza | Culture

If you want to destroy this bullring and this July Fair, don’t call the enemy because he is probably at home. If you want to save the bullring and the fair, give it a 180 degree turn and we’ll see what happens. The spectacle of this third bullfight of the season was shameful, mainly because of the bulls. The bullfight was of two brands, although in terms of play and build they could easily be considered the same father, mother and the rest of the family. The six were of little build, although they tried to cover up their shortcomings with some fine and offensive defences. Pure props. Because inside, the six were so many rags: casteless, with minimal strength, tame and, to top it off and finish off such a lamentable delivery, the sixth fell down twice during the supposed bullfight of Talavante. On the second occasion he did not get up and a banderillero had to stab him.

In the face of this crazy afternoon, Manzanares cut off an ear from the fifth bull, for reasons that are still unknown. The bullfighter himself must be asking himself. The bullfight was hectic, without settling down, detached, taking his ease, without control. An impression of insecurity, covered by the skills of a seasoned and veteran matador. When it came time to kill, a loose sword thrust, letting go of the muleta and walking away from the embroque. That was the bullfight with the only ear of the afternoon that, of course, no one remembers anymore.

Castella was spirited with his two bulls. A series of right-handed passes to his first stood out from a work without emotion, infected by the bull’s poor transmission. A changed pass to a bull that had a hard time understanding Castella’s call, distracted and distracted by the comings and goings of the people in the alley, was the prologue to a bullfight with the fourth that went off the rails as soon as Victoriano del Rio’s bull decided to seek the boards and take refuge there. What came next was a bit of nothing. By the way, that bull was brave in the varas and in the first one he knocked down the picador Agustín Romero and his mount with a bang.

And Alejandro Talavante, futilely persisted against the third, with some loose natural passes due to the inertia of the bull’s tired charge. With the bull on the boards, the bullfight ended in a lackluster manner. The sixth, fought to the sound of timid tango clapping, not only refused to go past from the start, but also lay down once, to get up by force, but before Talavante mounted the sword, he lay down again. No one could get him up and a banderillero finished him off at the first attempt. In that third, two pairs of banderillas from Javier Ambel, committed, were the best of a disastrous afternoon.

The music continues to play out of time, whether it is appropriate or not, and in the atmosphere of this bullfight there was a lot of unusual public. In this bullfight they have dealt a treacherous blow to a fair that they say they want to recover. Do not call the enemy, who sleeps at home.