A return one year after the farewell

Morante de la Puebla returned to the Las Ventas ring in Madrid on Monday, 12 October 2026, exactly a year after the afternoon in which he cut his pigtail (coleta) there at a farewell ceremony. A few months later that farewell proved to be a false alarm, and he has been performing again since April. Rumours of another retirement had circulated before the corrida, but he did not cut his pigtail on Monday. The Corrida de la Hispanidad drew a full house, with more than 20,000 people in the stands and a large share of young and female spectators. The sequence of the afternoon's key moments is shown below.

Ceuta homage and political tension

The corrida was dedicated to Ceuta. The stripes on the barriers were painted black and white, the Ceuta anthem was played after the parade and before the Spanish anthem, and flags of the city hung around the plaza. The plaza was decorated with Spanish flags for the national holiday, the Día de la Hispanidad. Some spectators shouted insults at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and Ginés Marín had handed out white handkerchiefs to the audience. Alberto Núñez Feijóo flanked Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, in the stands, and the atmosphere was charged politically in the run-up to an election.

Morante's two bulls

Morante's first bull, a Garcigrande, showed little movement and offered no real option, so he dispatched it after a few passes. Whistles and protests came from parts of the crowd after his arrival, with a group in tendido seven the most hostile. His second bull, Rosito from Núñez del Cuvillo, gave him three series of naturales with the left hand. He then failed with the sword, and he finished with a media estocada. Morante received one ovation and cut no ears. Earlier that morning at the Hotel Wellington, he had exchanged outfits with rally driver Carlos Sainz (father), a Dakar overall for a suit of lights, and he dedicated a bull to Sainz, who stood in the callejón.

Palacio and Gutiérrez on the bill

Aarón Palacio, an Aragonese matador, confirmed his alternativa on the afternoon. His first bull, the imposing Veraniego from Garcigrande, gave him a good opportunity, but his sword refused to enter on three occasions and he received only an ovation. Morante embraced him after the faena. His sixth bull was dull, and he could show only his willingness to fight it. Héctor Gutiérrez, a 28-year-old from Aguascalientes, Mexico, won the Copa Chenel this year and was on the bill as a result. He dedicated his first bull to Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who left early to reach a Shakira concert in the capital.

What comes next

The split reaction in the stands contrasted with the warmth of the crowd at the homage to Ceuta, and the afternoon was marked more by the bulls than by Morante's sword work. Morante is expected at the Feria del Pilar in Zaragoza on Friday, 16 October and Saturday, 17 October, where he is to close his season. Those dates will show whether his return to the Madrid ring is followed by further public appearances this autumn.