Juan José Padilla is a Spanish ''

torero A bullfighter or matador () is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter, and describe all the performers in the activi ...

'' ('bullfighter'). He became a '' matador de toros'', 'killer of (full-grown) bulls', in the town of his birth,

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Sp ...

, on June 18, 1994 when he was 21 years old. He was known as the 'Cyclone of Jerez' and featured heavily, both personally and professionally, in ''Into The Arena: The World Of The Spanish Bullfight'', a shortlisted nominee for the

William Hill Sports Book of the Year The William Hill Sports Book of the Year is an annual British sports writing award sponsored by bookmaker William Hill. It was first presented in 1989, and was conceived by Graham Sharpe of William Hill, and John Gaustad, founder of the Sport ...

in 2011. On October 7, 2011 he was gored by a bull in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, almost dying from his injuries. From a single horn wound through his skull, he suffered multiple fractures to both jaw and skull, facial paralysis, loss of hearing in his right ear and of sight in his left eye. Five months later in March 2012, he returned to the bullring with an

eyepatch An eyepatch is a small patch that is worn in front of one eye. It may be a cloth patch attached around the head by an elastic band or by a string, an adhesive bandage, or a plastic device which is clipped to a pair of glasses. It is often worn ...

- gaining the nickname 'The Pirate' – in

Olivenza Olivenza () or Olivença () is a town in southwestern Spain, close to the Portugal–Spain border. It is a municipality belonging to the province of Badajoz, and to the wider autonomous community of Extremadura. The town of Olivença was und ...

. The author of ''Into The Arena'',

Alexander Fiske-Harrison Alexander Rupert Fiske-Harrison (born 22 July 1976) is an English author, journalist, and conservationist. His writing is known for his immersion in his subject matter. He trained and worked for some years as a method actor. For his first boo ...

, who had trained as a ''torero'' with Padilla and was now a personal friend, accompanied him for British '' GQ'' magazine and ended by describing the result of that day's triumphant return: "it is Padilla alone who is swept up to tour the ring on the shoulders of the crowd. Then I see that it is not the crowd, but other bullfighters. An entire profession is holding him up so that an entire nation can applaud him. That night Padilla is on every news channel; come the morning he will be on the front page of every newspaper. When I meet him at the hotel afterwards, he has tears in his eye." He has continued to fight throughout the season with a hero's welcome - and failures - in both major bull-rings and minor ones, including

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

La Línea de la Concepción La Línea de la Concepción (), often referred to simply as La Línea, is a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. The city lies on the sandy isthmus which is part of the eastern flank of ...

, and the town where he grew up, Jerez de la Frontera, and the town he now lives in, neighbouring

Sanlúcar de Barrameda Sanlúcar may refer to: * Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a city in the Province of Cádiz, Spain * Sanlúcar de Guadiana, a village in the Province of Huelva, Spain * Sanlúcar la Mayor, a city in the Province of Seville, Spain *Sanlúcar de Albaida, forme ...

. On March 12, 2017 at a bullfight in Valencia, he was gored through the thigh and chest, suffering a punctured lung. Having announced his intention to retire at the end of the year in 2018, his final tour of the bull rings of Spain was marked with great successes and further injuries. In July 2018, Padilla lost his footing during a bullfight in Arévalo and fell to the ground after he was struck several times by the bull. He returned to the ring in Pamplona a few days later. His final corrida was with the bulls of Núñez del Cuvillo in the Feria de El Pilar in

, the same ring where he had lost his eye seven years before. Cutting two ears from his final bull, he was carried out of the ring on the shoulders of the crowd and finally retired, still number one in the ''escalafón'', the official ranking of matadors in Spain.De La Serna, Zabala
'La última apoteosis de Padilla'
''El Mundo'', 15 October 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Padilla, Juan Jose Spanish bullfighters Spanish Roman Catholics 1973 births Living people

See also

References