Fear in the afternoon

Press, 25 August 1980, Page 7

Fear in the afternoon

NZPA London A frightened young matador last week was fined about 5000 pesetas (about $7O), for refusing to meet his moment of truth in the bullring of Bilbao on Spain’s northern coast, the London “Daily Telegraph’s” Madrid correspondent, Tim Brown, reports. The matador, Pepe Currillo, was so panic-strick-en that he refused to go ■ out into the sanded ring ' and kill a 50Qkg bull, i The huge bull was from I the famed Victortao Marj tin ranch w’ - thorough-

bred animals, noted for their size and enormous horns are avoided, '..'hen possible, by the top stars. It was too much for Mr Currillo, who has been a fully fledged matador for two years but has yet to make his mark. He hid behind the wooden barrier of the arena while the crowd hooted and jeered him. Despite the derision, he steadfastly refused to step into the ring to face his enemy. From his refuge he stabbed the bull with his sword, wounding the beast, which was later put

out of its misery by an assistant. The matador was arrested at the end of the aftemon and fined by the authorities. He protested: “What do the crowd want? Do they want me to be killed by the bull?” Under Spain’s strict bullfight laws a matador is required to complete his contract which, in a top corrida like the Bilbao fight, requires him to face and kill two animals. If a matador fails for any reasons other than injury, civic authorities have the power to detain and automatically fine him.