Neither bullfighting nor bravery on an afternoon of unjustified bullfighting exaltation in Bilbao

Neither the established bullfighting, which seemed almost impossible, nor the bravery, which did not exist, were seen this Tuesday in the ring of the Bilbao bullring, on an afternoon of unjustified bullfighting exaltation by a sector of the fans who took sides, as if they were fighting bulls, for the tame specimens of Dolores Aguirre.

Read more From chasing drug traffickers to detaining migrants: the dangerous decline of fentanyl seizures in the Trump era

But it was not that much, not by far, no matter how much the followers of this brand of Bilbao owners wanted to see breed where there was nothing but a marked and general lack of race, although, yes, in different versions, from the deceptive temperament to the lack of breed of some who lay down several times before the sword thrust.

So much so that, among the localist partisanship, Antonio Ferrera’s performance was even booed, a veteran bullfighter who perfectly played his role as fight director and applied exactly the necessary resources to his lot so as not to be overwhelmed, as with the first, or to dispatch them without further consideration given their null performance.

To the one that opened the ring, who was tame in the varas and arrived with some unclassy mobility to the muleta, the Extremaduran tempered him in two good series of muletazos after which the animal ran out of steam, while the third, better shaped but who defended himself with abrupt twisting movements, was effectively fought on the legs after trying to show him off pointlessly before the horse.

But the disagreement with that sector of the fans came before the fifth, a red-haired monster that already came out limping and that, absolutely empty of breed, fell and lay down several times in the last third, a defect that some wanted to attribute, without any justification, to the work of the picador and to Ferrera’s will, who was unfairly booed after necessarily shortening his performance.

On the other hand, the other rival in this snubbed mano a mano, the Salmantino Damián Castaño, had that same part of the audience on his side, which he also worked for by showing off his bulls before the horse, as the exalted ‘toristas’ desired, but without there being any greater reason to do so: the three went to meet, yes, but to defend themselves, nod, or butt and come out loose.

The second of the afternoon, with amoruchadas build, at least showed an emotional temperament in the first series with the left hand of the Salmantino bullfighter, who thus managed to temper him before, seeing himself able, the bull began to dig and sneak in with meaning, before finally fulfilling his threat to run away. But the bull’s long resistance to folding, supported on the barrier, after a defective sword thrust provoked an exalted ovation from the supporters of the livestock, already inside a loop that Castaño took advantage of to take a lap of the ring that no one asked for.

He also insisted on showing off the fourth in the varas, where Aguirre’s bull performed discreetly, and even opened the performance in the middle as if it had bravery that soon proved nonexistent, just when halfway through the work the animal went on its own will to corner itself in the very boards where its matador had to kill it.

Read more The Government raises requirements for data center investors to avoid a bubble

And he did the same with the sixth, another bull with an ugly coat that did not apply himself at all before the iron of the pike to develop on the muleta with a growing meaning, sneaking in dangerously in the detached passes of the Salmantino bullfighter that increased the defect.

The fight that Castaño gave him, willing and on the legs, sprinkled with scares and disarms, also did not justify that he ended up being asked for the ear, nor the subsequent lap of the ring, which was done from a stand today worryingly disoriented.