Adventure Post: El Unico Espada in Cazalla de la Sierra

What an awesome day of randomness! This was definitely a highlight of the trip!

How did we end up in a small town like Cazalla de la Sierra? Well, we flew back to Spain from Vienna to watch a special bullfight: el unico espada. Our favourite torero was taking on six consecutive bulls in a single night (usually three matadors take on two each in a night). We reserved our tickets from Rome the day they went on sale, and we were both intrigued to see what all this bullfight would entail. It would be only our third, and we were still new to being aficionados. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Cazalla de la Sierra is about an hour or so north of Sevilla, and no public transport would get us there, so we rented a car to get there. It was a tiny, six-speed manual Fiat Panda that really struggled to get up the hills to the city. But before that, we met an Aussie, Luka, who wanted to go to a bullfight, but was having trouble getting to one just outside of Sevilla that same night. We got him a front-row ticket with us (actually, a little ways away, so Jack sat there so Jo could talk Luka through it all), and made a day of it.

We rolled into the sleepy town just as mass was letting out. We parked in the dirt parking lot next to the plaza de toros, and WOW! It was TINY. It held just 3,000 people, and it certainly didn't look like it would hold even half of that from the outside. The last two bullrings we'd been to had several entry gates. This one had two: sombra y sol. Nada mas. You either sat (and entered) in the sun or the shade. Luka's first words were "this is going to be intimate," which is EXACTLY what Jo said after learning that the Sevilla ring held 12,000 people (we figured about 5,000 tops). We were early, because we had to pick up our tickets in the morning, so we had lots of time to kill before the event (about 6 hours).

The town was dead. Deader than dead. Mucho dead. We needed to find a restroom, so we stumbled into the only open place we could find. It was a nice, large bar on what looked to be the main "tourist" drag. We grabbed some beers and tinto de verano to enjoy the air conditioning as people started trickling in. And then more people. And then quite a few people. We figured that this must have been the place to be Sunday's after mass. And right as we were thinking that, in walked the torero we were there to see! Borja Jimenez. We both saw him at the same time, and were ecstatic! Luka was in the restroom, but we clued him in as soon as he got back. We knew he was doing a meet and greet somewhere, but didn't know where. Turns out it was the random bar we stumbled into! After the roundtable, Jack got up to go ask if we could meet him (he speaks the better Spanish). When we told him we were from the USA and flew from Vienna to see his unico espada, he said "gracias" about fifteen times in a row and offered a photo! Of course, we took one of just Jo and him, seeing as she got all dressed up for the occasion!

After he left, we decided to grab some food. Where? Oh, well, you know, none other than a Michelin Star restaurant we passed earlier that day: Augustina Restaurante! In Cazalla de la Sierra of all places, we just happened upon a Michelin Star restaurant. And the food was reasonably priced and absolutely delicious (a kilo of fall-off-the-bone ribs for just 36 Euros!). After that, we wandered around town a bit (we had plenty of time to kill), and ended up stumbling into a fairground that a lot of the locals were hanging out at. We had some more beers and tinto de verano while there, and Luka was absolutely stunned at the price. Two beers and a tinto de verano for less than seven Euros? He was in love!

From there, we made our way to the bullring. We were three of maybe five people who spoke English there, and we were on the barrera (the front row), so we had up-close views of all of the action (not that the entire ring wasn't an up-close experience). Some of the locals were upset that we had barrera seats, but we did reserve and pay for them. Jack sat separate from Jo and Luka, which he really liked because the action took place mostly right in front of him. An old man shared his seat, because he couldn't get up the stairs, and he had clearly seen several decades of bullfights.

The unico espada was way different from the other corridas we had seen. First off, there was only one matador. There were two more in reserve, but the show was Borja's. Secondly, there was no callejon. The ring wasn't big enough for one, so the bulls and toreros were literally right in front of us (which made for fantastic photos and videos). Thirdly, we got to see what it truly meant to be a torero. We'd seen Borja twice before. He was excellent with the capote, had a flair for showmanship, and, admittedly, struggled with the sword, but all of that was just for one bull and then he got a break. Not this night. He did one after the next. We got to see him fresh at the beginning and exhausted at the end. We saw him celebratory when he did well and frustrated when he didn't. We could literally see his emotions on his face. We also watched him control three different cuadrillas (bullfighting teams), which is a part of bullfighting that we didn't really understand until this night. It truly is a team event.

We really enjoyed watching him in Pamplona and Madrid, but the unico espada is what really made us fall for this torero. He never took his frustrations out on the bull, and he never let the physical strain take him down. We watched him almost get gored on three separate occasions, including one where he was thrown by the bull (its horn caught his pants) and lost his shoe in the process. In the true spirit of bullfighting, he stood back up, waved off the swarm of concerned teammates, kicked off his other shoe, and ensured the bull had a quick, respectful death. For this, he was awarded two ears and a tail, the most a matador can be awarded in a single fight! Jack got to toss his hat to him, which he threw back (one of the traditions in bullfighting is when the matador gets an ovation and congratulatory lap around the ring, people throw their hats to them in celebration). There was a handprint in bull's blood on the hat (which is still there), which was awesome. All in all, Borja was awarded six ears, a tail, and was carried out of the stands on his fans' shoulders.

But that wasn't it! After el unico espada, a local kid (literally, a kid, who was probably 14 years old) "fought" two young bulls. Some of the subalternos were behind the barriers coaching him as he worked the ninos with the capote and muleta. It was quite a show, and he certainly had the showmanship down. At first, he was stubborn and not listening to his coaches (as is typical of a teenager), but then he started listening and was really putting on a show. It was so cool to watch the older generation pass their passion and knowledge to the younger generation, and to see the crowd stay behind to watch him. We all agreed: that kid is going to break some hearts one day, because many a girl are going to fall in love with that future matador!

After the celebrations, Jack and Jo went to see the Capilla, or chapel. One of the bullring attendants was very happy to show it to us. Then we drove the hour back to Sevilla, turned in the car, and went to bed. The next night, we watched the Sun Also Rises in the hostel's movie room. Just call Jo Lady Brett Ashley, because she fell in love with a bullfighter!

Google Photo Album