It was his as if nothing had happened. Nobody knew who he was, where he came from, where Fernando Adrián (Torres de la Alameda, Madrid, 1992) came from, the bullfighter who on May 31 and June 17 consecutively opened the Puerta Grande of the Monumental de las Ventas, « the square that gives and takes away. But, given the void it crossed in the long summer exodus, the old saying has lost validity. A resounding no-no. His season has barely transcended and, yet, he has linked 14 outings on shoulders in 14 afternoons. A full-fledged plenary session. He has one more commitment left to close his great pool in Las Rozas: 15 out of 15. He did not waste one of the opportunities that were granted to him almost in extremis: Palencia -with pardon included-, Valladolid, Murcia or Guadalajara. «I think I have done what I had to do. Being focused on my profession, on training, on day to day. Apart from patience and knowing how to wait, being dedicated is what has made me reap such a season,” he declares with sincere humility.
From June 17 in Madrid until August 28 in Cuenca, and because it is the square managed by its new representative, Maximino Pérez, it will not was advertised by right at no fair on the circuit. He was only called up for one of the many substitutions that arose, on August 26 in Arenas de San Pedro. And then, after the Cuenca triumph, the others came. He excuses, in some way, the bullfighting framework: «When I open my second Puerta Grande de Las Ventas, I am aware that 80% of the fairs were practically closed. It is clear that the profession is as it is. No path is easy when achieving great things. In the end, with that patience and peace of mind that have accompanied me, I have not disappointed the businessmen who have given me the opportunity. It has been hard, but everything heals. “Both as a person and as a bullfighter.”
The focus for the strange case of Fernando Adrián was placed on the so-called “system”, as the business organization chart of bullfighting is called. The debate is, or could be, whether the bullfighting framework fails or if the Great Gates of Madrid lack not only a filter, but also the strength of yesteryear. And it is worth referring to the latest of the most unexpected bullfighters: Ángel Téllez, Francisco de Manuel, Fernando Adrián. Of the three, Adrián’s case has been the most talked about among professionals and amateurs. For being double his achievement and the least rewarded. «I believe that Madrid continues to be the most important square in the world. All the great figures of bullfighting and many other bullfighters have come from here. Thanks to Madrid I am where I am and I have positioned myself where I am. Those two Big Doors have made the fans know me », he proclaims.
Does the street know the new or not so new bullfighters? Adrián, alternated in 2013, responds with the optimistic impulse of a season, his, “so intense and short at the same time”: “Every afternoon has been special, with an enormous impact. “I notice every day the affection of the fans and how at each event more people go to the bullrings to see my bullfighting.” Fernando Adrián defines it through the word he uses most: delivery. As strong as his concept, as firm as his sword.
In 2021, he won the Chenel Cup of the Toro de Lidia Foundation in the Community of Madrid. At that time he worked in an oil mill owned by his family and in a transformer company, and he combined everything with training and dreams as a bullfighter: “But when you have to support yourself, you have to be realistic and have humility. I lived by and for my profession, yes, but I had to continue surviving outside of it. And also pay for the bulls that he paid me in the field to train, my crutches, my gear. I supported myself with my income. I worked at the transformer company until two months before fighting in San Isidro. “When you bet on something, you have to be 100 percent committed.”