Julio Aparicio Díaz
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Julio Aparicio Díaz (born 1969), also known as Julito Aparicio, is a Spanish
bullfighter 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 activ ...
from
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, ...
. Aparicio made his public début in bullfighting at the age of fourteen in 1984. He was confirmed as a
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 ...
, or matador, in 1994.


Early life

Aparicio was born on 4 January 1969 in
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, ...
, Spain, and is the son of
Julio Aparicio Martínez Julio Aparicio Martínez (; born 13 February 1932) is a retired Spanish bullfighter and a cattleman. Biography Aparicio was born on 13 February 1932 in the city of Madrid. His father, Julián Aparicio Nieto, was a ''novillero'' (novice bullfig ...
, who was a famous torero in the 1950s and 1960s and the grandson of Julio Aparicio Nieto, who was also involved in bullfighting. Aparicio's mother was Malena Loreto, a famous
flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...
dancer and his sister Kika Aparicio is an actress. Aparicio made his first public appearance in relation to bullfighting on 2 September 1984 at the
Arenas de San Pedro Arenas de San Pedro is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2006 census ( INE), the municipality has a population of 6,682 inhabitants. Its seal Seal may refer to any of the following: ...
. In 1986, Aparicio, while thinking about studying law, decided to leave everything for a career in bullfighting at the age of sixteen.


Career

Aparicio débuted as a ''novillero'', a fighter of young bulls, on 8 February 1987 in
Gandia Gandia (, ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa de Valencia, south of Valencia, Spain, Valencia and north of Alicante. Vehicles can ...
, Spain alongside Fernando Lozano and Gregorio de Jesús as a
picador A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bull ...
. Later that year, he went to the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
in
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
to defend the Spanish tradition of bullfighting. Aparicio received his ''alternativa'' (alternative), a ceremony which a novillero starts fighting mature bulls for the first time as a torero, on 15 April 1990 at the Royal Cavalry of Seville. After that, he made his French début in
Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...
on 16 May 1991 at the
Arena of Nîmes The Arena of Nîmes (; ) is a Roman amphitheatre in Nîmes, Southern France. Built around 100 AD, shortly after the Colosseum of Rome, it is one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres in the world. It is long and wide, with an arena measurin ...
. Aparicio had his ''confirmación'', a confirmation of his status as a torero, four years later on 18 May 1994 at
Las Ventas The Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, known simply as Las Ventas , is the largest bullfighting ring in Spain, located in the Guindalera quarter of the Salamanca district of Madrid. It was inaugurated on June 17, 1931. Its seating capacity of 23,798, ...
in Madrid. He also received a confirmación in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
on 13 November 1994. Aparicio was greatly praised from fans for his performance at his confirmación in May. On the fifth bull of the afternoon, Aparicio fought a bull of the Alcurrucén breed named Cañego. This performance is regarded as his best, and the one that established him as a top bullfighter. From 1994 to 1998 he was advertised to participate in a majority of the bullfighting festivals held in Spain and France. At the 1998 ''San Isidro Festival'', he served as the Godfather to
Morante de la Puebla Morante is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Daniele Morante (born 1979), Italian footballer *Eduardo Morante (born 1987), Ecuadorian footballer *Elsa Morante (1912–1985), Italian writer *Laura Morante (born 1956), Italian actr ...
for Puebla's confirmación ceremony. On 4 June 1998 he announced his withdrawal from events and was inactive until 2000. He had his ''reaparición'', or comeback, on 15 March 2000 in an event with
José Mari Manzanares José María Dols Abellán (; 14 April 1953 – 28 October 2014), known professionally as José Mari Manzanares () was a Spanish bullfighter, son of the banderillero Pepe Dols (''Pepe Manzanares'') and father of José María Dols Samper, likew ...
and Juan Bautista in
Fitero Fitero is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. The Monastery of Fitero The Monastery of Fitero ( or ''Monasterio de Santa María de Nienzebas'') is a Cistercian monastery locat ...
. In the following years since his return to the major fairs where he gained his notability, he has had several mishaps which has resulted in not being reviewed as favorable compared to years past. On 23 March 2008, at Las Ventas, he was gored by a bull which caused a severe laceration in his left thigh. Also, prior to his accident on 21 May, he only had four performances for the 2010 season. He was considered favorable for two of the eight bulls he fought, and he was booed in his last performance at Nîmes, France before the accident. He has drawn criticism of not being "glamorous", not being close enough to the bulls to be considered dangerous, and not making the bull "dance" in his later years. On 21 May 2010 Aparicio was severely injured during a performance when a bull gored him. The incident happened as Aparicio was attempting the ''faena'', a series of passes in which a torero uses his cape and sword before delivering the ''estocada'', or death blow. The bull immediately withdrew its horn from Aparicio's neck, and Aparicio attempted to leave the
bullring A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with the Iberian Peninsula, but they can also be found through Iberian America and in a few Spanish and Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. Bullrings are ...
, but lost consciousness and had to be carried out. Two other matadors stepped in and slew Opiparo. The result of the injury was a punctured
tongue The tongue is a Muscle, muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper s ...
, a fractured
hard palate The hard palate is a thin horizontal bony plate made up of two bones of the facial skeleton, located in the roof of the mouth. The bones are the palatine process of the maxilla and the horizontal plate of palatine bone. The hard palate spans ...
, a fractured upper
maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...
and several broken teeth. Doctors at Las Ventas operated on Aparicio for an hour and performed an emergency
tracheotomy Tracheotomy (, ), or tracheostomy, is a surgical airway management procedure which consists of making an incision on the front of the neck to open a direct airway to the trachea. The resulting stoma (hole) can serve independently as an airway ...
to stabilize him. He was transferred to the 12 October Hospital in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
where he underwent six hours of surgery to repair his fractured jaw. He left the
intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...
on 24 May after recovering from surgery. He went back to the hospital in critical condition on 28 May due to acute
respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a r ...
that required
ventilation Ventilation may refer to: * Ventilation (physiology), the movement of air between the environment and the lungs via inhalation and exhalation ** Mechanical ventilation, in medicine, using artificial methods to assist breathing *** Respirator, a ma ...
through a breathing tube due to swelling from an infection. He left the hospital on 6 June after recovering once again. After the accident, Aparicio fired his manager Simon Casas who had said in an interview that Aparicio would not be able to psychologically recover so quickly. Aparicio made a return to bullfighting in
Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...
on 1 August, ten weeks after the accident. He later revealed that on the day of the accident, he had competed with a broken middle finger on his left hand.


Career highlights


See also

*
Bullfighting Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations. There are several variations, including some forms wh ...
*
List of bullfighters The following is a list of notable male bullfighters which include includes bullfighters by country. The list of female bullfighters catalogues the spread of women in the sport. Colombia * Pepe Cáceres (1935–1987). * Edgar García, ''El Dandy ...
*
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 ...


References


Further reading

* (article by Robert Bérard and Jean-Marie Magnan) * * * (preface
Jean Lacouture Jean Lacouture (9 June 1921 – 16 July 2015) was a journalist, historian and author. He was particularly famous for his biographies. Career Jean Lacouture was born in Bordeaux, France. He began his career in journalism in 1950 in ''Combat'' a ...
and François Zumbiehl) *


External links

* (in Spanish) at Portal Taurino
Julio Aparicio
(in Spanish) at Arte Toreo
Julio Aparicio
(in Spanish) at Mundotoro {{DEFAULTSORT:Aparicio Diaz, Julio 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Seville Spanish bullfighters