Top Spanish matador returns to the ring after brutal goring
Source: Agencies |
July 24, 2011, Sunday
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IF Ernest Hemingway were alive, Spanish bullfighter Jose Tomas would likely be a hero of one of his novels.
Brave and fearless, but an introvert to the point of being a hermit, Jose Tomas was returning to the bull ring yesterday in Spain's eastern city of Valencia after a year recovering from a goring in Mexico that almost killed him.
Billed as the top event of the 2011 bullfighting season, a capacity crowd will pack into the 11,000-seat Valencia ring and black-market touts are believed to be making a killing, reselling tickets at inflated prices.
Organizers say demand has been so strong they could have filled Real Madrid's 90,000-capacity Santiago Bernabeu football stadium.
Most of the spectators will be season-ticket holders and only a small percentage of tickets were put on sale publicly at prices ranging between 50 euros (US$71.78) and 200 euros. Scalpers are asking for up to 1,500 euros.
"I don't remember so much expectation in 30 years of bullfighting, so much media interest and such enthusiasm from aficionados," Simon Casas, a French entrepreneur who manages Valencia's bullring said.
"There are certain artists who are epoch-making. For the past 10 years Jose Tomas has been the landmark figure in today's bullfighting," said Casas. "He's a legend."
Born in Galapagar near Madrid, Tomas, 35, is seen as the savior of a tradition that is going through rough times with falling gate income, a prohibition in the large and powerful northeastern region of Catalonia and a ban on live transmission of fights on national public television to protect younger audiences.
Emilio Martinez, critic for the digital newspaper Diario Critico, said the return was good news for the "fiesta," as bullfighting is referred to in Spain. "In these complicated times with so much anti-bullfighting sentiment, that the top performer, the one with most media and box office pull, should be back in front of the bull is very important," said Martinez.
'Suit of lights'
The last time Tomas wore the traditional, glittering matador's "suit of lights" uniform was April 24, 2010, in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
That afternoon a bull called "Navigator" gored him in the left thigh. The horn smashed the femur and punctured the saphenous vein and the iliac artery. Tomas left a frightening trail of blood in the sand of the Mexican ring as he was dragged away. He needed several blood transfusions to keep him alive.
Back in Spain he found he was unable to bend or move the leg with ease and underwent further surgery to free up the nerves.
"The rehabilitation cost blood, sweat and tears because it was a day-by-day case of sacrifice and determination," said Jose Gonzalez, the doctor who carried out the operation and oversaw Tomas' recovery.
"He had fairly serious injuries to the left thigh but he had his mind set on returning to the ring as soon as the injury allowed him," Gonzalez said. "He's fit to fight in the same conditions as he was before the goring."
This happens to be the second return for Tomas.
He turned professional "torero" in 1996 and quickly became an idol to many fans, frequently carried out through the main door of bullrings on the shoulders of jubilant spectators, the highest honor for bullfighters.
Then in 2002, Tomas announced he was retiring, claiming he could no long work up the enthusiasm to face bulls in the arena. However, five years later he made a triumphant return, showing he had lost none of his daring, breathtaking style.
Brave and fearless, but an introvert to the point of being a hermit, Jose Tomas was returning to the bull ring yesterday in Spain's eastern city of Valencia after a year recovering from a goring in Mexico that almost killed him.
Billed as the top event of the 2011 bullfighting season, a capacity crowd will pack into the 11,000-seat Valencia ring and black-market touts are believed to be making a killing, reselling tickets at inflated prices.
Organizers say demand has been so strong they could have filled Real Madrid's 90,000-capacity Santiago Bernabeu football stadium.
Most of the spectators will be season-ticket holders and only a small percentage of tickets were put on sale publicly at prices ranging between 50 euros (US$71.78) and 200 euros. Scalpers are asking for up to 1,500 euros.
"I don't remember so much expectation in 30 years of bullfighting, so much media interest and such enthusiasm from aficionados," Simon Casas, a French entrepreneur who manages Valencia's bullring said.
"There are certain artists who are epoch-making. For the past 10 years Jose Tomas has been the landmark figure in today's bullfighting," said Casas. "He's a legend."
Born in Galapagar near Madrid, Tomas, 35, is seen as the savior of a tradition that is going through rough times with falling gate income, a prohibition in the large and powerful northeastern region of Catalonia and a ban on live transmission of fights on national public television to protect younger audiences.
Emilio Martinez, critic for the digital newspaper Diario Critico, said the return was good news for the "fiesta," as bullfighting is referred to in Spain. "In these complicated times with so much anti-bullfighting sentiment, that the top performer, the one with most media and box office pull, should be back in front of the bull is very important," said Martinez.
'Suit of lights'
The last time Tomas wore the traditional, glittering matador's "suit of lights" uniform was April 24, 2010, in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
That afternoon a bull called "Navigator" gored him in the left thigh. The horn smashed the femur and punctured the saphenous vein and the iliac artery. Tomas left a frightening trail of blood in the sand of the Mexican ring as he was dragged away. He needed several blood transfusions to keep him alive.
Back in Spain he found he was unable to bend or move the leg with ease and underwent further surgery to free up the nerves.
"The rehabilitation cost blood, sweat and tears because it was a day-by-day case of sacrifice and determination," said Jose Gonzalez, the doctor who carried out the operation and oversaw Tomas' recovery.
"He had fairly serious injuries to the left thigh but he had his mind set on returning to the ring as soon as the injury allowed him," Gonzalez said. "He's fit to fight in the same conditions as he was before the goring."
This happens to be the second return for Tomas.
He turned professional "torero" in 1996 and quickly became an idol to many fans, frequently carried out through the main door of bullrings on the shoulders of jubilant spectators, the highest honor for bullfighters.
Then in 2002, Tomas announced he was retiring, claiming he could no long work up the enthusiasm to face bulls in the arena. However, five years later he made a triumphant return, showing he had lost none of his daring, breathtaking style.
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