A missed opportunity

Just after eleven at night, as the bullfighters left the ring on foot, bereft of trophies and glory, the granite of the Las Ventas stands was still warm. Just a couple of hours earlier, at the start of the bullfight, it had been smoking. "If only I knew, I'd bring half a dozen eggs and fry them on the stone," more than one person must have thought. The idea would surely have delighted their local residents.

Perhaps they would have even saved the poor Japanese man from the heat, whom medical personnel had to carry away mid-event after suffering heatstroke in the lower part of the first tier. In the absence of healing fried eggs, water, beer, and other refreshments flowed through the stands, bleachers, and rows of rows, "very cold, please."

And it's best not to imagine the heat the bullfighters endured, although they surely had other concerns on their minds. First, the desire for triumph; then, the terrifying, razor-sharp horns of the El Torero bulls. Those of the first and sixth, the most brazen of the enclosure, were breathtaking. A bullfight of enormous seriousness, all five years old, but well-built and not at all exaggerated in weight: 528 kilos on average. Proof, once again, that trapío (a type of bull) isn't measured on the scale.

But El Torero's bullfight wasn't just for show. The bullfight, overall, maintained interest, moved quickly, and drew a pair of clearly successful bulls. They were precisely the ones that opened and closed the bullring, the most impressive of the six bulls. Both performed well with the lances and began to charge in the final third with class, nobility, and transmission. Two animals with just enough stamina to cut ears in fifteen or twenty passes.

Many more were executed, both by Lama de Góngora , who confirmed the alternative, and by José Fernando Molina , but apparently they weren't enough. The Sevillian, detached and cautious, suffered numerous snags and only managed to temper himself with a couple of respectable natural passes, which amounted to very little. Faced with the meek and cracked fourth pass, he neither commanded nor said anything.

Molina, who stood firm against the uncertain third bull, which was both measured and short, offered his respect to the public and dropped to his knees to begin a performance as bold as it was lacking in artistic brilliance. Sometimes poorly positioned, at other times hectic, he stood out in a clearly inadequate series of passes. The best part of his performance, without a doubt, was the handful of veronicas with which he received the last bull within a foot of the field.

Rafa Serna , returning to Madrid after his exciting doctorate confirmation at the recent San Isidro Fair, showed his will, but also didn't say anything against a very uneven field. His first, a serious and beautiful albahío, had nobility and good condition, but suffered severely from the punishment in the lance; while the gentle fifth always moved defensively and with a very loose face.

After eleven at night, the feeling among the survivors leaving the Las Ventas oven was evident: a missed opportunity.