For being the Virgen de la Paloma…

Madrid may seem like a deserted city in August, but, even with part of its population on holiday away from home, it is a city with life. And with a wide range of leisure activities on offer for the millions of tourists who visit the capital at this time of year. And among this range of possibilities are the Sundays at Las Ventas.

Having recovered its usual day and time after the night-time events in July, the Madrid bullring, however, focuses its programme of events on the festivities of 15 August. The fiesta on the day of La Virgen was never just another show. The stars do not appear, immersed in the fairs of the season, but it is a day for 237 bullfighters “from Madrid” to appear in Alcalá, young bullfighters with projection, as well as some aspirants ready to confirm their doctorate. And this is precisely how this year’s line-up is composed.

The bullfighter from Madrid is Gómez del Pilar, a bullfighter made in this bullring, where he has managed to make a name for himself and get the endorsement to perform in other fairs, first in France and later in other bullrings on the circuit, such as San Fermín. Noé, which is his given name, has been on the prowl for the shoulder in Madrid on several occasions. Who knows if one of the most traditional dates in the capital’s calendar will be the definitive opportunity for him to leave the temple on his shoulders.

Adrián de Torres is the head of the bill. The bullfighter from Linares is a bullfighter with projection, a virtue that he has been able to demonstrate in the few opportunities he has had. With projection… and with courage. A dry, shivering courage, which he showed last year when he pulled an ear from a Cuadri bull that threatened to burst him at every cite and to fight with serene impavidity a month later, in San Isidro, a Fuente Ymbro bull that also caught him to disintegrate him.

That is why he has earned his presence on his own merit in this line-up, which is completed by a confirming bullfighter who comes from Valencia to make his first appearance as a matador in Las Ventas: Jesús Duque. In the capital of the Turia they already know of the qualities of this bullfighter, whose bullring he has left on his shoulders on several occasions. The bulls belong to the José Enrique Fraile de Valdefresno bull-ranch, a guarantee if we take into account their origin, their owners and the trajectory of this bull-breed in recent seasons.

The programme for the month of August in Madrid concludes with another more than suggestive plan: Two bullfighting events on Sundays 18 and 25 for the most promising young bullfighters on horseback, both from Spain and Portugal, where this modality is a major art. The company has also programmed several activities during these days, around both shows, to enhance and promote them and to make the bullfighting cathedral also an equestrian temple in the summer of the forum.