Julio Méndez, a 19-year-old novice bullfighter who made his debut this afternoon in Madrid, born in the town of Arenas de San Pedro in Ávila and taurinely trained at the Badajoz school, came out through the Main Gate of Las Ventas after cutting two ears from his first novice bull; but that was not his greatest merit, rather his boundless ambition, his boldness, his dedication, and his firm determination to pursue success. He faced the two best novice bulls of the outstanding Conde de Mayalde lineup, but the bullfighter went all out and found the best reward.
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He did not deserve the two ears because the sword fell low, and the correct execution of the supreme act must be an indispensable condition to open the door to dreams; moreover, the novice bull, of brave nature, was given a lap of honor after a discreet passage through the third of lances. He pushed humbly in the first encounter and responded to the second with a loose charge, cowardice enough that should not have been rewarded by the presidential box.
Despite these unjustly rewarded errors, both the novice bull and the bullfighter offered an extraordinary spectacle of brave nobility in the animal and pride and passion in the bullfighter.
Méndez already warned in a pass to the second novice bull that he was not going to go unnoticed. He threw the cape over his back and drew some very tight gaoneras as an exciting calling card. He dedicated the death of the third to the audience, which gave two somersaults that made one fear for its strength, but that was not the case. Méndez knelt, traced three accelerated round passes, a tight backhanded pass, and closed the start with a long chest pass, already standing, which caught the attention of those present. Without a doubt, with clear ideas, with skill, he took advantage of the mobility and promptness of the novice bull in five series, two of them with the left hand, in which his desire for success, his easy handling of the deception, his varied and also accelerated concept of bullfighting, and his ability to connect with the stands through his pride and dedication were evident. Very tight bernadinas corroborated a prize-worthy performance, brave, impactful, spectacular, but the placement of the sword should have prevented glory.
The novice bull allowed greatness due to its breed, promptness, joy, and tireless charge, but its passage through the horse was not prize-worthy either.
Méndez received the sixth on his knees in front of the bull pen door and the novice bull passed over him. With the muleta in hand, he received it with statuesque passes, another backhanded pass, a molinete, and another chest pass, indicating the bullfighter’s good intentions. This novice bull was noble, but without the greed of the third. It allowed him, however, to bullfight it with both hands with connection and uneven brilliance. The novice bullfighter seemed more concerned with ambition than depth, so he opted for half-fainted muletazos rather than pulling on the comfortable charge of his opponent. He would have cut another ear if he had not failed with the sword.
Emiliano Osornio has a proven reputation for good manners, as a bullfighter with pinch and feeling, but that is not enough in a ring like Las Ventas. The first was not a straightforward novice bull, -with a disorderly and dull charge- and the Mexican tried with very little fighting spirit. Against the fourth, of good condition, he left isolated details but without rounding off a high-level performance, as the novice bullfighter deserved. The most outstanding was done with the cape: with five smooth verónicas he received the fourth, and a singular chicuelina, two verónicas, and a half composed a pass to the sixth. More was expected from this bullfighter.
And closing the bill was Pedro Montaldo, who showed excessively that he is little experienced. His first was complicated, and the bullfighter was very cold before the noble fifth.
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The one who left on shoulders, with the open smile that triumph produces, was Julio Méndez, who next Sunday takes the alternative in Cáceres.
Conde de Mayalde/Osornio, Montaldo, Méndez
Novice bulls from Conde de Mayalde, well presented, discreet and uneven in lances, and noble; complicated first and second; with class, fourth, fifth, and sixth. The third was given a lap of honor: pushed on the first lance, came loose on the second, to which it responded with a charge, pursued in banderillas, and was brave and quick with the muleta.
Emiliano Osornio: pinch and almost full contrary (silence); crossed stab that guards, dropped stab _warning_ and two descabellos (ovation).
Pedro Montaldo: pinch and stab (silence); detached stab (silence).
Julio Méndez: detached stab _warning_ (two ears); dropped stab (silence). Left on shoulders through the Main Gate.
Las Ventas bullring. May 26. Novillada. Sixteenth event of the San Isidro Fair. Full house (21,594 spectators, according to the company).
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