Lucas Pérez Madrid

Madrid

Updated Saturday, March 9, 2024-02:20

Román Collado

has decided to celebrate his 10th anniversary as an alternative this Sunday in

Valencia

, at the

Fallas Fair

, surrounded by his people, in a solo gesture before six bulls from different farms.

An event that comes to the city of Turia with the very recent tragedy of the

Campanar

fire , still in everyone's minds.

To what extent will this event be present on Sunday? It is going to be a very emotional day.

It has been a very hard blow for the city and as a Valencian it feels closer.

Of course there will be a gesture.

And that day all the victims will be very present.

Just as it will also be inevitable not to remember the maestro Ricardo de Fabra and Paco Arévalo, since they will be the first Fallas without them.

What message would you send to the families of the 10 fatalities in the fire and to all the people who have been left without a roof? These are very hard times, it is an enormous misfortune.

Life sometimes tests you with these types of terrible blows.

I send a lot of encouragement to the relatives of the people who lost their lives and to those who were left homeless, telling them to be strong.

What they are experiencing is very complicated and I know it is very difficult to say, but everything works out.

And we will do our part to ensure that they do it as soon as possible.

Bullfighting has always been very supportive in the face of this type of misfortune.

The teacher Vicente Ruiz,

El Soro,

has already offered to promote a festival to raise funds for the victims.

Yes, he called me telling me that he is organizing it, that it is underway.

That's the idea and you'll have me there for whatever you need.

Focusing now on day 10, when did it occur to you to make this gesture?

I was aware that I was completing 10 years of alternative.

And I wanted to do something special for the Valencia public, for my people.

The company offered me a flashy poster but if I wanted something truly special and different there was nothing better than killing six bulls.

It is a very strong challenge but it is the least I could do towards all those who have supported me since my beginnings.

I felt like I had to do it. Have you already imagined the afternoon?

Yes, I work a lot on the topic of visualization, I have imagined it many times, I dream about it daily.

And how does it end?

Well, it always ends in a big way, on the shoulders of a strong victory.

Let's hope it comes true.

If you will have in mind this day that you have put yourself in the hands of a

coach

emotional...It's not just for this day, I've been working with Javier Portal for two years now.

I am a person who disperses, but not only in bullfighting, also in everyday life.

I go away a lot, I think about a thousand things at the same time.

And with him I work a lot on the issue of being focused on the bullfights.

In this case, since there are six bulls, it is easy for you to go off at some point, for there to be some downturn.

The key is that if it happens to me, I can get back in as soon as possible.

Aside from the mental aspect, how are you preparing the afternoon in terms of variety of lucks, of removes...? Exactly the same as I have been able to prepare other types of afternoons, but it is true that the motivation is completely different.

I'm training steps, beginnings of work, endings... But it's clear that I'm not going to do anything that hasn't been invented either.

This type of run can become more monotonous, I want to try to give it as much variety as possible.

I have like a bag, like a backpack full of everything and then whatever I can, whatever comes to mind, will come out.

I hope it will be an entertaining afternoon. How important do you think this afternoon will be for your future? It will shape my career.

Everything that happens after that afternoon will be different from today.

It is a very beautiful day that life has given me and I am living it with great enthusiasm.

For this day he has been involved in the sale of tickets, in choosing the bulls, in contact with the young people... It won't be for you. I have given him all the love in the world, because in the end, when Things done with love always turn out better.

And I was born to be present and active in many processes.

As for young people, we are going through a very good time, there is a new generation that is going to the bulls.

Every time I see people between 15 and 30 years old who are interested, who meet with their friends to go to the square... And to engage these young people even more, I think it is essential to try to be close with them and get involved in what they do. lack.

Román acts as a ticket agent for his own encerrona.SPACES NAUTALIA

How quickly have these 10 years of being a matador gone by? Much faster than I thought, they have flown by.

They have been very beautiful, very different from each other... I feel privileged.

What do you keep? Well, I'm left with these last few months.

This winter has probably been the most beautiful of my career because of how the preparation for this game is going.

Worst of all, that terrible goring in Madrid in 2019 comes to mind. Did you feel like it was going away?

Yes, when I entered the infirmary I thought that was where I would stay.

But well, thank God I recovered very well and in the end it is an anecdote, something that happens to bullfighters and that we learn from them. Learn?

Yes, you learn to appreciate how lucky you are.

I had a bad time, but especially because of the time I was stopped.

That is why Covid was worse, which has been the hardest hit I have suffered in this decade, with almost three years unemployed, without entering, without practicing your profession, without being able to do what really keeps you alive.

At the end of the day, a goring is something hard but it is something that the bullfighter is prepared for.

Not for a pandemic.

What remains intact and what has changed about that Boston Boy from the Valencia Bullfighting School?

Without a doubt, the illusion remains intact, which is the same or even greater.

But the way of seeing life and the way of acting that you learn inside the bull, that has nothing to do with then.

What would Román have been if he had not been a bullfighter? I am a very active person, who likes to do everything.

But it was clear to me very quickly that he wanted to be a bullfighter.

So clear that when I was 12 years old I signed up for the Bullfighting School.

It was like a drug, I became addicted to bullfighting from that age and I fought for my dream. Imagine, how do you imagine yourself in another 10 years?

I imagine myself enjoying my profession.

And from my family.

But above all, very proud of everything I have achieved. Changing gears, and returning to the present, the political moment is complicated for the Festival, with an anti-bullfighting minister responsible for Bullfighting.

It's a little weird.

I think that in the end it is due to ignorance.

I have invited you to the bulls because I am sure that you are completely unaware of what lies behind this wonderful world.

I would like to show it to him. He already tried it with Pablo Iglesias... Yes, he told me to write to him online and he agreed to answer me.

But I never heard from him again.

The Fallas 2024 start

The 2024 Fallas Fair starts this Saturday with a bullfight.

After Román's confinement on Sunday, the cycle will run continuously from Wednesday the 13th to Tuesday the 19th. These are the posters:

Saturday, March 9.

Chamaco steers for Alejandro Peñaranda, Samuel Navalón and Alberto Donaire.

Sunday 10.

Bulls of Victorino Martín, Pedraza de Yeltes, Fuente Ymbro, El Parralejo, Hermanos García Jiménez and Domingo Hernández for Román as the only sword.

Wednesday March 13th.

Bullfighting without picadors.

Steers from José Cruz for Juan Alberto Torrijos (Valencia), Víctor (Arles), Alejandro González (Albacete), Ian Bermejo (Castellón), Rafael de la Cueva (Madrid) and Valentín (Nimes).

Thursday March 14.

Bullfighting with picadors.

Fuente Ymbro steers for Niño de Las Monjas, Jarocho and Javier Zulueta.

Friday March 15.

Mixed run.

Bulls from Carmen Lorenzo, Juan Pedro Domecq and steers from Talavante for Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza, Morante and Nek Romero's farewell to Valencia.

Saturday March 16.

Bullfight.

Bulls from Victoriano del Río and Bulls from Cortés for Castella, Roca Rey and Pablo Aguado.

Sunday March 17.

Bullfight.

Jandilla and Vegahermosa bulls for José María Manzanares, Talavante and Roca Rey.

Monday March 18.

Bullfight.

Bulls by Juan Pedro Domecq and Puerto de San Lorenzo and La Ventana del Puerto for Cayetano, Juan Ortega and Borja Jiménez.

Tuesday March 19.

Morning.

Bullfight.

Bulls by Fermín Bohórquez for Sergio Galán, Lea Vicens and Guillermo Hermoso de Mendoza.

Sunday March 19.

Bullfight.

Montalvo bulls for El Fandi, Paco Ureña and Emilio de Justo.