Sublime in Seville

O BULLFIGHTER WILL  That much became clear on 1 October 2021. If even that crowd, transfixed by Morante de la Puebla’s sorcery, would not bestow the supreme trophy on him, then Seville has (so to speak) turned its back on tails. Ears and, more rarely, tails are awarded to matadors for outstanding work. Cutting the fallen bull’s ear used to be a signal to the plaza butcher that the meat was to be set aside for the bullfighter as a bonus. By the beginning of the twentieth century, it was a mark of merit: one ear for a fine performance, two for an exceptional one. The tail was the ultimate prize, one that a plaza might go many years without awarding.