By Oscar G. Barrios
Photos: Plaza de Toros La México
This March 2nd in La México exactly at 4:30, the three bullfighters Angelino de Arriaga, Jesús Enrique Colombo and Juan Pedro Llaguno will be present to win the banderilla de oro trophy.
Sports & Lifestyle had an exclusive interview to get to know these three bullfighters a little better. The childhood of the three bullfighters was in a bullfighting environment, they knew personalities such as ‘“El Pana,” “Miguel Villanueva,” or “José Mari Manzanares.”
Arriaga started at the age of 7 and was trained in Spain from the age of 13. He pointed out that his father was a well-known banderillero and his brothers are bullfighters. Colombo was born in Venezuela, has lived in Spain since the age of 14, is the son of bullfighter José Colombo, has fought in Las Ventas, Seville, Pamplona and now hopes to succeed as a matador in La México. Llaguno is the son of a well-known Sevillian, he began with his brother to learn the basics on the advice of his father and was in Spain to polish his bullfighting although he is very clear that his deepest roots are Mexican.
The suits of lights are an essential garment for the bullfighter. Angelino prefers embroidered hearts and light colours such as white or light green as he thinks they are the most elegant, designed by the master tailor, Santos of Madrid. Colombo for his part is very special when choosing his suits because he believes that there are colours that can bring him luck and others that cannot, as well as the embroidery of loose flowers. He has worn for years some colours that he thought would bring him luck and he liked them, now he’s using new colours and trying them out. She commented “I think bullfighters are like princes, they must be well dressed, they have to be very elegant. Bullfighting dresses must be impeccable, so I always try to be well dressed” as he likes them to look perfectly designed. Some dresses he only wears once, others he keeps remembering that they gave him a triumph and some he wears for several bullfights, but he wears them a maximum of 30 times. Unlike the other two bullfighters, Juan Pedro chooses his suits by vibration, he does not have a favourite colour or embroidery and his dresses are made by Fermín’s tailor shop. He’s currently dressed by Antonio, although they used to be made by Fermín himself until he passed away.
Superstition is a very common characteristic in bullfighters; however, it seems that these three greats do not have it very deeply rooted. Angelino commented that the only routine he has is to always go out into the ring with the right foot, Jesús Enrique said that he used to do it but that his father told him: “the man who has superstitions, has excuses to one day say that something had happened,” and he said that nowadays something he does is to dress on the left side.
And when asked Juan Pedro, he laughed and said amused “no, because it’s bad luck to be superstitious,” and continued “I don’t know why people say it’s bad luck to leave the montera on the bed, and I think the only thing that can happen is that someone doesn’t see the montera, sits on it, breaks it, and what do you wear,” although he acknowledged that “when you line up to start the bullring, I make the cross with my right foot and the first step I take is with my left foot, because I always go with my heart first.”
In addition to bullfighting, they also practice other sports such as athletics, pelota, football, hiking, skiing, paddle tennis, golf and horse riding, although they have not thought about taking up rejoneo.
To find out a little more about the life of the matadors we asked them about their favourite food and their favourite destination and Angelino Arriaga told us that his favourite food is Mexican, but he also likes Spanish food, especially paella and tacos al pastor. His favourite destinations are San Miguel Allende and Merida. Jesús Enrique Colombo prefers the Cordon Blue that his mother makes and his favourite city is his own, Táchira in San Cristóbal, Venezuela, because it is his people and he misses them, while his second favourite city is Madrid. Juan Pedro Llaguno has a special fondness for Nutella, anything with Nutella is ideal for him. His favourite cities are Querétaro and Seville, although he also wants to travel to Greece, Australia and see the Aurora Borealis.
Finally, the matadors conclude with an invitation to La Plaza Mexico this Sunday 2nd March at 4:30 in the afternoon to enjoy themselves, and to go with an open heart to make them enjoy their bullfighting and give them that inexplicable emotion that can only be experienced on a bullfighting afternoon. Olé!
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