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On the day of San Isidro, the whole world of the bull put the focus on Las Ventas before the presentation of the phenomenon that has impacted the party. Some believed that the ease of the beardless Marco Pérez (Salamanca, 2008) would not be enough to yield to the Chair of Bullfighting. He entertained himself in cutting off four ears after gathering 10,000 people to display his art.

Although his father was a banderillero, Marco did not know bullfighting until he was six years old when he saw a festival in the Plaza de Ciudad Rodrigo. He was so enthusiastic that he insisted to his parents without stopping until they signed him up to the school by the hand of José Ramón Martín, retired subaltern, friend of the family and teacher of the school.

His debut as a picador will be on October 15 in Istres (France)

It was then that the elegant matador José Ignacio Sánchez took charge of his career. First teaching him the basics but seeing his skyrocketing evolution decided to take him with him to bullfight in the bullring of Salamanca to give some crutches to a calf during the practical class held annually by the school. Marco appeared not to be afraid and begged him to let him fight alone with the calf but his teacher told him it was soon. He was seven years old. A year later he bulled his first calf in public in the same square and he alone causing an impact for his great sense of bullfighting.

PHENOMENON

The ranchers began to call the school to invite him to tempt at home. Everyone wanted to see little Marco, who was already known throughout the bullfighting world thanks to social networks. His first commitment with the figures of bullfighting (Rivera Ordóñez, El Juli, Roca Rey, among others) was in Ávila in 2017, with only 9 years, in a festival in which he delighted the attendees.

Marco Pérez took with him to Las Ventas thousands of Salamanca enthusiasts with the good work of his countryman. Despite cutting off 4 ears, he was not 100% satisfied. EFE

During the pandemic he did not stop his preparation throughout the charro field, especially in the Pedraza de Yeltes livestock in Salamanca owned by Luis Uranga. It was then that the French matador Juan Bautista, now retired, became interested in leading his career. With him he made his first campaign in America in the winter of 21 to 22 bullfighting in Lima (Peru), Quito (Ecuador) and Manizales (Colombia).

At this stage, together with Bautista, a leap to the professional scene is sought without burning his image, managing his appearances in bullrings a lot. Last season he intervened at the end of several professional celebrations stocking a calf. The most important moment of the year was that it closed the poster at the Seville festival on October 12 for the benefit of the Brotherhood of the Great Power. He cut off two ears and a tail driving the fans and the professionals who participated crazy such as José María Manzanares, Daniel Luque, Juan Ortega or Pablo Aguado.

That was the great precedent of what happened in Las Ventas on May 15. About 3,500 people moved from Salamanca and among the fans there were farmers, bullfighters, members of his bullfighting club and many classmates from Marco's school. "He studied in a Public Institute in which there are not many fans but we have managed to make that day an excursion with several buses and many come to see me with teachers from the school. For them it is an almost unknown world, they ask me many things they see on social networks, "he confessed a few days before his engagement.

He is a number one in everything. A great athlete, competitive as the most, great student, affectionate and very good companion. His parents require him to combine studies with bullfighting and although what most attracts his attention is medicine, he considers other alternatives such as nursing, veterinary medicine or journalism. He is finishing 4th of ESO.

His parents and older sister follow his career closely. Pride mixes with pressure. The night before Las Ventas, Marco couldn't fall asleep. They say that he bet with his father that if he cut four ears they had to buy a farm. He achieved the goal but the prize has been a puppy, his other great passion.

After cutting off those four ears, he went to the door of chiqueros to receive the third steer of Jandilla. His teachers say that when he returned in the van, after opening the Great Door amid the popular clamor, he was not 100% satisfied. He has not yet shown his ceiling and when he does professionally he can be unstoppable.

In the coming months he will thoroughly prepare his debut with picadores that will be on October 15 in the French square of Istres to deal alone steers of Garcigrande. Now he has to comply with the twelve bullfights without horses required by the Ministry of Culture to be able to move to the upper echelon. "They will be behind closed doors, to comply with the paperwork," they say from their environment. No one talks about his stature, expecting an imminent growth spurt. Geniuses like Enrique Ponce or Leo Messi were treated with growth hormones. In Marco's case, it doesn't worry about it, but it doesn't occupy his people either.

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