Morante, an immense torrent of self-love

Morante de la Puebla miraculously escaped a serious accident during the fight with the fourth bull of last night's bullfight at the Marbella bullring. He ended up in severe pain and with a laceration on his head, which was expected to be mild, which contributed to his winning two ears and the tail after a purely inspired performance that didn't feature a perfect performance, but did feature moments of great beauty.

Along with him, two other artists, Juan Ortega and Pablo Aguado, starred in memorable sequences, but failed to overshadow the luminous trail of the bullfighter from La Puebla.

Morante appeared in the Marbella square brimming with self-confidence and ready to demonstrate, once again, that he remains the king in the face of those who aspire to the throne.

He returned to bullfighting like no one else, but with an ease, confidence, and disregard for risk that perhaps all accounted for the tremendous goring he suffered at the exit of a series of natural passes in the fourth part of the afternoon. The bull hooked him from behind, brought him down spectacularly, viciously sought him out on the ground, where he turned him over twice more. Perhaps the animal's blunt horns prevented the goring, but Morante ended up with a disfigured expression, obvious signs of pain on his face, and a gash on his head.

But all that happened in the fourth bull, after the first bull broke the spell of his bullfighting style with five punctures and a low blow, and Ortega and Aguado dazzled the stands with loose passages of the highest artistic talent.

And Morante doesn't seem willing to let anyone steal his privileged place. No. He greeted that bull on his knees next to the boards with a twist of the cape and a dazzling handful of very slow veronicas, brimming with beauty. After Curro Javier had excelled with the banderillas, he returned to his knees and began the faena with the muleta with tight passes assisted by high passes next to the barrier, which he secured with a trincherilla and an afarolado. Two series of muletazos followed with his right hand, a third, the somersault, with his left hand, and a final fourth of right passes full of pride, so that in the chest pass he left the muleta on the animal's back as a gesture of defiance.

Morante took the sword with the conviction that victory could not escape him despite the wound on the back of his head and his bruised body: a fallen thrust was enough to parade the top trophies and make it clear that the jar of essences remains the property of a bullfighter who is a torrent of ambition and self-respect.

And look, Ortega and Aguado gave their all. Both are proven artists, but more fragile than the veteran maestro, and with less ambition.

But yes, when they do it well, they have a sweet bullfight. Ortega, for example, greeted his first bull with seven and a half verónicas, a true monument to good taste. Aguado performed a beautiful chicuelina pass with that bull, and his companion responded with a unique version of tafalleras. He began his muleta work with low passes on one knee, followed by loose passes with both hands, and finished, surprisingly, with manoletinas, also on his knees. He showed similar flair with the fifth bull, a bull that presented him with some difficulty.

And Aguado didn't want to lose his edge, displaying the hallmarks of his high-class bullfighting style in his first bull, which he excelled at with a few initial passes aided by a high, high, and well-placed stance, earning him two ears. The sixth bull was the least brilliant, and the Sevillian's performance was subdued.

Silence for Morante in the opening bull, one ear for Ortega in the second, and two for Aguado in the third… And Morante couldn't allow that; therefore, his pride forced him to forget the ever-present risk and clear his throne of contenders.

This festival, held at ten o'clock at night and broadcast on Canal Sur, is called the "Los Candiles" bullfight. The lights go out moments before the procession, which takes place by the light of two rows of candles placed in the ring, lit by spectators with candles they've found in their local area. The spectacle is fleeting, but it provides an opportunity to hold a bullfight in a previously lost and restored bullring, and for the "sold out" sign to be raised to the call of a trio of great artists.

And the bulls? They came from Garcigrande, a kind and demanding brand, well presented for a third-class bullring, with just the right amount of strength and breed, which they performed well on the horses and displayed nobility in all the stages. But, in truth, the bull was the least of it. The public came to see Morante and, incidentally, his two companions. And they had a good time, which was the point.