Prior to the San Isidro Fair in Madrid, the Plaza de Las Ventas celebrates some festivities. Among which the bullfights stand out, which serve to let the amateur public get to know the bullfighting bullfighters who have been bullfighting throughout the provinces and who, through their own merits, have earned a place to perform in the most important bullring in the world.
Last Sunday, April 21, it was the turn of the Mexican bullfighter Bruno Aloi, of bullfighting ancestry on his father and mother’s side, son of Giovanni Aloi, bullfighter on horseback, and Mónica Hernández, daughter of the Rancho Seco rancher.
Since he was a child, Bruno dreamed of being a bullfighter, like any child who has access to a cape or a muleta, to the bull in the field and to feel the snort of a calf in his father’s arms or on the ground, as is the case.
A couple of years ago he undertook the adventure of becoming a bullfighter in Spain, he traveled to the school in Madrid and as is known not everything is gold, the coldness of his companions and surroundings was the first test which, in Bruno’s case, was the first an incentive to not stop with absolute dedication in doing whatever it takes to become the bullfighter he knows he can be.
Sacrifice, loneliness, hardness. Celebrations without horses in Madrid’s Valley of Terror, with tough, almost bull-like steers, from small-scale ranches that require the license of someone who really wants to be someone in bullfighting.
The debut in Mexico arrived and San Marcos Square in Aguascalientes was the setting for a dream afternoon. Two good bulls, plenty of preparation and mentality that made all of us, bullfighters and the public, dream that Bruno could be an important bullfighter.
A week ago he participated in the bullfight at the fair, there, in Aguascalientes and the sword deprived him of the victory. Lessons from bullfighting, it is not only enough to have courage, know how to bullfight, want to be, it also requires an accurate sword and a lot of luck.
A week later, another dream fulfilled, a strong bet on a well-run race in which due to current times it is no longer possible to reach Madrid with 70 bullfights, now the day arrives when they put you in and you go through the scrutiny of a public that can become intransigent and even myopic in evaluating and recognizing what happens in the arena. It happens to bullfighters and figures, the standard is the same.
Bruno knows what he wants and is willing to walk the hard path that comes with just trying. Being announced and doing the walk is already a triumph, threads are pulled, he bets. Spring afternoon with pleasant weather, little wind and in the corrals more than a bullfight, a bullfight from the brave countryside of Albacete, Los Chospes sent an extremely serious running of the bulls, with three chestnut trees that were able to deal with bulls without problem in San Isidro.
Sergio Rodríguez, who will soon become a bullfighter, was lucky to have the only bull that rightfully charged the muleta, he was officious and at times an artist with the fourth one, whose ear had been cut off, and six punctures if he had killed it properly. and everything ended in a third exit.
Mario Navas points out forms, he has the type of old bullfighter and a good concept of bullfighting. His lot was impossible and the second, dangerously, grabbed him a couple of times, giving him severe somersaults from which he raced back into the face of the steers. He must sharpen the sword.
Bruno Aloi made the walk with a firm step. During the afternoon he demonstrated confidence and ease. Large Mexican influx on the lines. He received his first steer with soft, tentative passes. When he reached out to Veronica, the gentle donkey ran over him in the chest, thank God without injuring him. Angry, he returned to the horned man’s face and subdued him gently and firmly. He treated the public, I estimate about 8 thousand spectators who showed interest in the performance of the Mexican who was serious, but with a bullfighting attitude, he was always willing.
A task of clean muleta blows, with a powerful stroke that immediately penetrated the lines, but caused the meek man to crack and stop attacking. Prick and whole to say hello in the third.
The sixth was a serious chestnut who with the cape attacked hard, more with his breasts than with his pythons. Bruno understood that the first’s attack was with a similar attitude and he lanced widely so that the steer would surrender.
Toast to your father, thanks for the support and recognition of the requirement of knowing how to be in this noble profession.
Very bullfighter-like start from the bottom, temperate doubloons, subjecting the bull to follow the line without touching the muleta. Neatness, structure and attitude in the face of the meekness of a bull that, feeling capable, stopped attacking nearby. Overwhelming more in the middle distance that he took advantage of, Aloi, to provoke the attack at the beginning of the rounds. Silence of interest and analysis by the ultras of the sunny lines. Respect and acceptance before a bullfighter who has shown that there is a bullfighter in him. Entire thrust, request and a judge who has never distinguished himself for understanding this. Back to the wheel and the satisfaction of duty being fulfilled.
It wasn’t the afternoon I dreamed of, no. An infamous lot that she has been very good with. Here is a bullfighting reality, with attitude, seriousness and the necessary firmness. Madrid has said yes. Experience has been added and it has been shown that there is something to it. Time will tell. There is a bullfighter.
