Farewell to a Bullfighter of the Era: Morante Retires

On the day Spain celebrates its National Day, bullfighting has bid farewell to a legendary torero, leaving it orphaned of ... a legend. Unexpectedly, Morante de la Puebla has retired from the ring on Sunday afternoon after his performance at the Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, where he cut off both ears of what turned out to be his last bull, opening the grand door of the Alcalá street arena, from where he exited carried on shoulders to the acclaim of the crowd.

After taking a lap of honor with the trophies from the fourth event of the festival, Morante walked alone to the center of the arena and, visibly moved, cut off his ponytail, subsequently showing it to the audience that filled the stands. At that moment, the clock in the arena marked 7:37 PM. Shocked by what they were witnessing, the fans were left in a state of shock before reacting with a thunderous ovation and cries of 'torero, torero' as tears welled up in the eyes of the bullfighter from Seville.

'Tripulante', marked with the number 102, weighing 554 kilograms, born in January 2021, of a reddish coat and partridge eye, and branded by Garcigrande is the profile of the last bull in the career of Morante de la Puebla, who dedicated that performance to Santiago Abascal; the first of his lot was dedicated to the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, to whom he said: "This is for you and for everything you stand for. You are courageous."

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The last bull of his career threw him violently when he was receiving it with the cape, causing him to lie motionless on the ground. Dazed, he was carried by his colleagues to the barrier, where, having recovered, he returned to face the bull and performed a great faena of commitment and art, awarded with both ears—there were some protests about the trophies. A triumph that opened the grand door of Las Ventas for the second time this year after his triumphant exit last June at the Charity Bullfight.

A career spanning more than three decades

As he was carried on the shoulders of the capitalists through the threshold of the door that bullfighters most desire to open, José Antonio Morante Camacho (born in 1979 in the Sevillian town of Puebla del Río) also closed, in turn, a career spanning more than three decades since his debut as a novice without horses in 1991 in Montellano (Seville), where he marked an era of bullfighting.

As powerful as any and touched by what Rafael de Paula—who was his manager and from whose bullfighting well he drank—calls the 'whiff' referring to artistic bullfighters, Morante has been a complete bullfighter who has helped to recover old techniques and styles as a result of his interest in delving into and investigating the history of bullfighting. This is coupled with his firm and utmost commitment to the national festival, being one of the bullfighters who pulled the cart in the difficult times of COVID-19, and in defending it against attacks from certain political and social sectors.

The Sevillian has been a complete, powerful bullfighter, touched by the 'whiff' of art, and who has revived ancient bullfighting techniques

Therefore, the bullfighter from Seville has become a mass idol and has set milestones such as cutting a tail in Seville in April 2023 or performing greatly in arenas like Madrid, Bilbao, or Pamplona, in addition to 'pulling' the box office wherever his name was announced on the posters. This year he has had an enormous season where he has been the main attraction for fans.

In the province, Morante has starred in great evenings like the one he offered at the Goyesca Bullfight in Ronda in 2013, where he locked himself alone with six bulls and put on a superb performance; he has achieved triumphs in arenas such as those in Marbella, Estepona, Fuengirola, Antequera, and La Malagueta, where in 2015 he was the author of the best faena of that year's fair, winning the Capote de Paseo and Estoque de Plata trophies—the latter he did not collect as he did not attend the ceremony where it was to be presented.

His last afternoon in the province was on August 8 in Marbella since he could not appear at the Malaga Fair, where he was announced on two posters, due to a goring

In the case of the capital's arena, fans were left wanting this year. Although he was announced for two evenings (August 18 and 20), he could not make any paseíllo as he had not recovered from the goring he suffered a few days earlier in Pontevedra. Therefore, his last performance in the province was on the night of Friday, August 8, at the Candlelight Bullfight in Marbella, where he cut two ears and a tail after a superb performance to a Garcigrande bull that threw him a tremendous somersault.

Mental Health Issues

Morante's career has also been marked by his mental health issues, which in June 2024 led to a temporary retirement from the rings as he was not responding to antidepressants and his legs were failing, his body lacking the strength to bullfight. Indeed, the bullfighter, as he himself confessed, suffers from a dissociative disorder diagnosed when he was 22 years old, to which a major depressive disorder was added a few years ago, leading him to undergo electroshock therapies.

Morante de la Puebla began bullfighting and playing bull with his inseparable cousin, sword-handler, and loyal squire, Juan Carlos Morante, at the age of five; at twelve, he wore his first suit of lights; in 1995 he debuted as a novice and on June 29, 1997, he took the alternativa in Burgos with César Rincón as a witness and Fernando Cepeda as his sponsor.

A professional career where he has been showcasing his bullfighting skills in arenas in Spain, France, Portugal, and Hispanic America. The last to see him in a ring were those who attended the double session held at Las Ventas on Sunday: in the morning at the tribute festival to Antoñete, which Morante promoted, and, in the afternoon, at the last event of the Autumn Fair, where bullfighter Fernando Robleño also said goodbye to the rings. Sergio Rodríguez, who confirmed the alternativa, completed the lineup.

He leaves on the day that Fernando Robleño also retires and on the day he made two paseíllos in Las Ventas

In a gesture loaded with symbolism, like all those he tends to make, on his last afternoon in lights Morante de la Puebla chose a mauve and gold suit, like the one his idol Antoñete often wore in Madrid. Now the bullfighter from Seville enters the pantheon of bullfighting legends.