The horseman Diego Ventura will perform on July 30 in the mixed bullfight at the Coliseo Balear, twenty years after his debut in Palma. He assures that he will bring his best horses.
The horseman Diego Ventura returns to the bullring in Palma on July 30, twenty years after his debut in the Balearic capital. He will do so in a mixed bullfight alongside the matadors Morante de la Puebla and Sebastián Castella, a lineup that, according to the rider, "people can enjoy a lot."
Ventura debuted in Palma in 2006 with a novice bullfight by Antonio San Román. Four years later, he returned to perform alongside Fermín Bohórquez and Andy Cartagena. Since then, he had not been announced at the Coliseo Balear. "The circumstances have not arisen to return before," explains the horseman, who assures he feels "a lot of excitement" to do so now.
For years, it was said that Ventura did not want to transport his horses to come to Mallorca. The horseman himself denies this: "My absence is not because I didn't want to transport the animals; it's really that I wasn't called. I would have returned gladly since Palma is a venue that I like a lot, with a great following."
Ventura is in favour of mixed bullfights, like the one on July 30. "They can't be held at every fair as it would overload the bullfights of rejoneo, which are very important to us; but, I repeat, I like the mixed ones... it combines a significant variety of styles," he states. He adds that he has managed to "hook fans of foot bullfighting who now enjoy rejoneo."
The horseman has a stable of around twenty active horses. Among them, he highlights Bronce, Nivaldo, Quirico, Guadalquivir, Lío, and Oro Negro, the latter being two years old. "It's very difficult for me to distinguish between the quality of one and another," he confesses.
For the event in Palma, Ventura has not yet decided which horses he will bring. "I usually choose them very shortly before the bullfight, seeing if any are injured, their condition and training... I would like to take Bronce, Guadalquivir who is the star of the show, Nivaldo, and Oro Negro. I will decide shortly before loading them," he explains.
Ventura defines his style as a "very spectacular and very vibrant" rejoneo. "I believe that my way of performing conveys a lot due to the closeness, the way of entering and exiting, of tempering. This way of pure bullfighting, of not leaving anything at home is what makes the audience vibrate," he points out. He assures that his bullfighting is based "on the purity of rejoneo and trying to do things with the greatest risk and the greatest adjustment."
The rider, who does not consider himself "the number one" because "I don't like numbers like that much," laments not being announced in venues like Seville, Pamplona, Santander or Bilbao this season. "It's very unfair, last year in Santander, in a mano a mano, I cut four ears and this year the one who is announced is the other colleague. And I haven't even been called," he denounces. In Seville, he acknowledges that "we didn't understand each other and there's no need to give it more importance."
Ventura's return to Palma is an incentive for the bullfighting fans of Mallorca, who will be able to see one of the greats of current rejoneo in action. The Coliseo Balear will host the mixed bullfight on Thursday, July 30, as part of the city's bullfighting fair.
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