I couldn’t be in Madrid for this one obviously. I was however fortunate to view the corrida online live on Justin.tv on Friday 05/06/09. I never had the pleasure of seeing Luis Francisco Esplá perform in person, but I felt satisfied watching the dramatic afternoon of the maestro’s despedida from Madrid’s Plaza de Toros Las Ventas. Two of the toros from Victoriano del Río were fightable, with Esplá’s second animal and toro of his despedida being a noble toro who deservedly earned a vuelta. After Esplá’s placement of banderillas and initial stages of the faena, it was soon evident this was gonna be a special afternoon for Maestro Esplá. Soon after the first series, toro and torero were in sync. Esplá’s temple was the best of the month of corrida’s at Las Ventas. Esplá was enjoying the toro and topped his performance of with a dramatic and eventually effective estocada. Two ears were awarded to the matador “a la ley” and the crowd honored Esplá with two vueltas. Overall it was a great viewing experience and I’m sure a eurphric experience for those who were honored to be in attendance at Las Ventas.

De Rosa Jiménez Cano

Las-Ventas.com