May 20, 1964 what it was like to face death

C. Michael Bennis – Author and Speaker   https://www.cmichaelbennis.com

The festival of San Isidro, Madrid’s patron saint, begins the Friday before May 15. It lasts for 9 days of continuous partying with music, dancing, and sensational bullfights. The Capitol is spotless, flowers boldly accentuate the beautiful avenidas and glorietas, and the warm weather is delightful. This is a time for fun, for romance and for death in the afternoon bullfights.

In 1964, El Cordobéz was scheduled to enter Madrid’s Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas at 5:00 p.m. This is the most beautiful bullring in Spain, built in 1929 in the Neo-Mudéjar style.  Manuel Benitez Perez, a.k.a. El Cordobéz had fought in over 400 corridas to sold out crowds but he had purposely shunned Madrid, where the critics continually insulted him. He was illiterate, he had no apparent saving grace. Worse, he was an insult to the legend of Manolete.

Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez, a.k.a. Manolete, the most famous of all bullfighters, was killed in the bullring of Linares, Spain on August 28th 1947. He was the darling of the centuries-old ballet of death, with his stoic, classic style where he stood unmoving, with his feet firmly anchored, as he led the bull through consecutive passes next to and almost touching his body. Spain’s sorrow over Manolete’s death extended to General Francisco Franco, who ordered three days of “national mourning”, during which only funeral dirges were heard on the radio.

Seventeen years later, El Cordobéz, an illiterate petty criminal would enter the world’s most influential arena to challenge the venerable memory of Manolete. Half of Madrid expected El Cordobéz to fall on his ass, while the other half could already see a hero emerging. https://bit.ly/2t3zA65