This Sunday’s Las Ventas was Damián Castaño’s ninth show in 2023. Reward for silent effort, oblivion for a decade until the alternative was confirmed in 2022 after a good record as a bullfighter. As a matador he has known the harshness of mishaps, the unpleasantness of hard bullfights, patience without having the fruit assured. He now savors the echo of Sunday’s triumph, which he condemned with his treacherous sword.
A path forged from that alternative in Gijón with his brother Javier as godfather and Matías Tejela as witness. Since then he has found its market share in France, Cinderella and other places of bullish interest. In Madrid he has stood out for his good bullfighter’s cut over and above his fighting ability: “he wanted to fight a bull well with his left hand in Madrid. There were three or four naturals that I was able to bullfight relaxed, as I feel. That is the bullfighting that I look for and that I train for. I imagine the bull is good, not to defend myself but I have to deal with those bullfights. “I’m happy with the projected image although I would have liked to win, of course.”
It was a real surprise that the fans celebrated with deep oles. This is how the matador experienced it: “The I already liked the Valdellán bull because of the left piton. The task had two parts, one of greater tension and the other of leaving it on the face to pull the attack more relaxed. “I was able to enjoy it a lot.” A performance that has had an impact: “The fact that it was televised comforts me because the fans and professionals have been able to see it even though he did not kill him as the task deserved.”
In August he stood out with Dolores Aguirre’s in Bilbao. An afternoon of wind and rain in which she brought out the most combative side of her: “It was one of the most important afternoons of my career. There were many elements against us that made the afternoon even more beautiful. I surpassed myself, I was able to give a good image. “It is a farm that I admire and understand well.”
He does not deny the underworld of hard cumshots, in which he has found the way to walk in bullfighting: “I am grateful to the circuit I am in. It has taken me out of anonymity. My goal is to bullfight well but these types of bulls do not always allow me. Sometimes bullfighting becomes turns into a battle.” He closed his nine bullfights in 2023 with this walk, and he is already looking with hope to 2024, although before that he will travel to America: “Hopefully it will be useful for next season. In France they are already interested. I am grateful for the places that you have with me, also the Peña Tres Puyazos that has repeated me for two years – in San Agustín del Guadalix -. Now I only have two commitments left in Peru.”