Supporter? Friend? Authority? The relationship between Gabriel Fernández Rey, the most veteran president of the bullring of the Maestranza de Sevilla, and Morante de la Puebla, the chosen one of the Sevillian bullfighting, is strange. Fernández Rey is a supporter of the bullfighter, he considers himself his friend and as president he is the authority in many of the afternoons in which Morante has made the paseíllo in Seville. Morante is invited by him to some conferences, they chat casually from time to time and take the opportunity to drop some jokes. "One day he told me I was a coward for not throwing a bull back," Fernández Rey tells Crónica. He wants to downplay the comment.

On Monday they added another milestone to this love-hate tune, to this meandering friendship. Morante, at the end of the fight of the first bull of the afternoon, once he had collected the ovation in the third, greeted, as protocol dictates, the president. In turn, Gabriel Fernández Rey joined, as protocol dictates, to reciprocate the greeting. The regulation establishes the rules to be followed throughout the fight. The president ensures compliance. Bullfighters recognize their position. However, Morante de la Puebla left him a message. "You have no shame," he blurted out. Captured by the cameras of Mundotoro TV, the sequence leaves no doubt. "You have no shame."

Morante took the opportunity to vent. He had been phenomenal, but his work had not been echoed in the lines. Instead of facing the public, he did it with his friend or more or less friend. "In Seville, they don't hear about Morante anyway," Zabala de la Serna wrote. Morante paid for it with the president. "There was not enough majority," recalls Gabriel Fernández Rey. "In some chronicles I have read that I have no sensitivity. What there weren't were handkerchiefs. In addition, the sword was decisive, "he confesses. "It was low and rear. If it had fallen on top [well placed], I would have awarded the prize without a doubt, with the same handkerchiefs. I like Morante a lot, but Morante is not right."

Morante de la Puebla and Gabriel Fernández Rey at the bullfighting biennial of Ronda, in 2017Tauromundo

Fernández Rey presided over the afternoon when Morante got his first and only Puerta del Príncipe. It was the year 99. That day he heard some expletives, but from the audience. "A pharmacist told me to go and preside over the Charco de la Pava, where a laptop was then mounted. I listen but I pretend not to listen." The three ears cut by Morante de la Puebla to a bullfight of Guadalest, according to the judgment of Fernández Rey, were very deserved. "It was different for me. A cyclone. One of the best bullfighters I had ever seen. The fan is with Morante because he makes a bullfighting of many carats. The only Prince's Gate was given to him. That's when it took off," he takes out the history of this relationship that runs like the Guadiana. They sealed the comings and goings a year later, in 2000. Morante was set to get his second big win in Seville. He had cut off two ears by the first of the afternoon. "And I was going for the other two of the second. But he caught the bull. I went to see him at the hospital. I said, 'Morante, the doors of the Prince open with three ears, not four.' There was no need to go out as it came out. He's the best bullfighter."

Inspector in Ceuta

Fernández Rey is part of the bureaucratic power inserted in the bullrings since he was Government Delegate in Alcalá de Guadaira. He was then a police inspector. It is the old guard of presidents. Until the possibility was opened for fans of recognized prestige to access the boxes through a course, only Interior officials could do so. Gabriel Fernández Rey's first destination as an agent was Ceuta. From there, he went to Ronda, where he met his wife and directed, after a few years, the bullfighting biennial. In Ronda he was also the governmental delegate of his bullring. Since 95 he presides over bullfights in the Maestranza of Seville. Every year since then, it has been renovated. "Nor is it said that I was the president in the last great tasks of Morante in Seville," he defends. One of them in the last Feria de San Miguel. The bullfighter of La Puebla curdled an unforgettable performance. "The public protested to the bull, but I, as I know Morante, saw his face. I knew he liked it. So I decided not to return it."

Morante has returned the favors by accepting her invitation to participate in conferences and round tables on bullfighting. Fernández Rey, who is 69, retired two years ago as Head of the Andalusian Autonomous Police Unit. And he is an expert in Direction of Bullfighting Shows by the UNED. He and Morante usually meet every two years in Ronda. As in the 2017 edition. During the closing conference, the bullfighter intervened and took advantage -again- to throw another dart at his friend. "Bullfighting is an art that needs a bull that is not disproportionate. Today the bull is very disproportionate," he told Gabriel.

But Gabriel Fernández Rey forgives him everything. "I'm not going to propose it for sanction. His words yesterday [Monday] were the result of a warmth." The triumphs of El Juli -granted by the Morantist president- and Roca Rey and the ninguneo to Morante de la Puebla have opened a debate in the fans. Is the temple of bullfighting in decline? Isn't it what it used to be? "Audiences change. Now they want less blood. Some afternoons come euphoric. Others, cold. I think it's a good fair."

Neither Morante de la Puebla nor his entourage have wanted to contribute their version of what happened.

  • Morante de la Puebla
  • Seville
  • Ceuta
  • The Juli
  • Andres Roca King
  • Bulls

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