Juan García Jiménez (7 January 1934 – 5 January 2023), better known as Mondeño, was 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 ...
.
Biography
Coming from a low-income family, García entered bullfighting as a means of earning a living. He made his debut on horses in
El Puerto de Santa María
El Puerto de Santa María (), locally known as El Puerto and historically in English as Port Saint Mary, is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. , the c ...
on 24 June 1956. He took the
alternativa with
Antonio Ordóñez
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ...
and on 29 March 1959 and was confirmed on 17 May 1960 by Vázquez. In 1962, he took part in the film ''
La becerrada
''La becerrada'' is a 1963 Spanish comedy film directed by José María Forqué, written by Jaime de Armiñán and Ricardo Muñoz Suay, and starring Fernando Fernán Gómez, Amparo Soler Leal and . It was composed by Graciano Tarrago.
Synopsis
...
'' with
Antonio Bienvenida
Antonio Mejías Jiménez (; 25 June 1922 – 7 October 1975), better known as Antonio Bienvenida (), was a Venezuelan-born Spanish bullfighter who belonged to the Bienvenida bullfighting dynasty. Eleven times he came out, borne on his fellow bu ...
.
After sustaining an injury, García entered the as a monk on 30 August 1964. However, he reappeared in March 1966 in
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
and in
Marbella
Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...
on 3 April of that year with
Paco Camino
Francisco Camino Sánchez (; 14 December 1940 – 29 July 2024), known in the bullfighting world as Paco Camino (), was a Spanish bullfighter and bull breeder. A bullfighter of the highest order, he dominated tauromachy and was twelve times bor ...
and
El Cordobés
Manuel Benítez Pérez (born 4 May 1936), more commonly known as ''El Cordobés'' (The Cordovan), is a Spanish matador, and actor active in the 1960s who brought an unorthodox acrobatic and theatrical style to the bullring.
Career
One of the ...
. After a very serious injury in 1970, he permanently retired and married his fiancée, Lolita Casado. After his retirement, he moved to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.
Mondeño died in
Sanlúcar la Mayor Sanlúcar la Mayor is a municipality in the province of Seville, southern Spain. The municipality is the location of the Solucar Complex.
Gaspar de Guzmán, Count of Olivares was created Duke of Sanlúcar la Mayor by Philip IV. He wished to reta ...
on 5 January 2023, at the age of 88.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mondeno
1934 births
2023 deaths
Spanish bullfighters
Sportspeople from the Province of Cádiz
People from Puerto Real