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  • Fernando Adrián does not fail in the triumph and puts heat to the ugly bulls of the cold in Valladolid

It was his thing 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 de la Monumental de las Ventas, "the square that gives and takes". But, given the emptiness he went through in the long summer exodus, the old saying has lost its validity. A resounding nonsense. His season has barely transcended and, nevertheless, he has linked 14 outings on shoulders in 14 afternoons. A full-fledged plenary. He has one more commitment left for Las Rozas to close his quinielazo: 15 out of 15. He did not miss one of the opportunities granted to him almost in extremis: Palencia -with pardon included-, Valladolid, Murcia or Guadalajara. "I think I've done what I had to do. Being focused on my profession, on training, on a day-to-day basis. Apart from patience and knowing how to wait, being dedicated is what has made me reap a season like this," he declares with sincere humility.

From June 17 in Madrid to August 28 in Cuenca, and because it is the place managed by his new agent, Maximino Pérez, was not announced by right at any fair of the circuit. He was only called up for one of the many substitutions that arose, on August 26 at Arenas de San Pedro. And then, after the triumph of Cuenca, came the others. He excuses, in some way, the bullfighting network: "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 great things are achieved. In the end, with that patience and tranquility that have accompanied me, I have not disappointed the entrepreneurs who have given me the opportunity. It's been hard, but everything is hard. Both as a person and as a bullfighter."

The focus for the strange case of Fernando Adrián was put on the so-called "system", as the business organization chart of bullfighting is called. The debate is, or could be, if the bullfighting framework fails or if the Great Doors of Madrid lack not only a filter, but the strength of yesteryear. And it is worth referring to the last of the most unexpected bullfighters: Ángel Téllez, Francisco de Manuel, Fernando Adrián. Of the three, Adrián's case has been the most commented among professionals and amateurs. For being double his achievement and the least rewarded. "I think Madrid is still the most important square in the world. From here have come all the great figures of bullfighting and many other bullfighters on their way. Thanks to Madrid I am where I am and I have positioned myself where I am. Those two Big Doors have made the fan 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 own, "so intense and short at the same time": "Every afternoon has been special, with a huge impact. I notice every day the affection of the fan and how in each appointment more people go to the squares to see my bullfighting. Fernando Adrián defines it through the word he uses the most: delivery. As strong as his concept, as firm as his sword.

He won in 2021 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 of bullfighting: "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 to pay for the bulls that he paid me in the field to train, my crutches, my junk. I supported myself with my income. I worked in the transformer company until two months before bullfighting in San Isidro. When you bet on something, you have to be 100 percent committed."

Fernando Adrián says that by 2024 he hopes to see his name in the main fairs, that he feels grateful and that he will always be willing to bullfight in Madrid – "who has given me everything" – despite his absence from Autumn.

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