EL CORDOBES

Manuel Benitez

Some say that he wasn't the most skillful of Matadors, but he was brave. Since his career began in 1959 he has been gored more than thirty times. He would sneak into the pastures of Don Felix Moreno, and fight and kill his bulls by moonlight.

Call of the Bull

He also likes to place his own banderillas, sometimes breaking them to the size of a pencil,leaning on the bull as he places them. It is also said that he has a unique understanding of each of the bulls he fights and knows just what he can or can't get away with. On one occasion ,traveling to a corrida in Andujar,fe turned to Columpio his banderillero and announced fe was foing ro do something that afternoon no one had ever seen before. Sure that he had seen everything in his long career, the old banderillero regarded him with a skeptical stare. He was wrong.

When it came time to place the banderila's Columpio was ready for his signal to enter the ring,but El Cordobes waved him away. He was going to place them himself.

His grey-haired banderillero stared aghast, Cordobes broke his banderillas down to pencil length, marched up to his bull waiting in the middle of the ring,thenturned his back to him. Slowly he paced his way backwards towards the bull. As the bull charged, he stopped. In the second before the animal's horns reached his back, he stuck out his right leg to catch his eye and divert his charge. As the animal swerved, he snatched it back, spun and slammed his banderillas into its back. His stunned banderilllero joined the crowd in their wild applause.

Over and over again, in Corrida's all over Spain, El Cordobes planted his tiny banderillas kneeling with his back to the bull's, jumping up and whirling round at the last minute. He planted them standing with his back to the barrrera, refusing to budge from that incedibly dangerous position the slightest deviation in the bull's charge could nail him to the wall like a butterfly pinned to a board.

During one of his faenas a young man jumped into the ring.(As he himself had done years before)The crowd signalled to Cordobes to let the boy prove himself , but he was badly gored and died of his wounds everyone blamed the Matador, saying that he should have stopped the fight. After this El Cordobes never fought for a very long time.

This great matador, unlike the others this site is dedicated to is very much alive, and living in Cordoba. I was lucky enough to see him fight in Marbella1976, Before his retirement".

This is said to be of his son who also fight under the name " El CORDOBES www.burgos.net/toros/manuel.htm