Dennis Hollingsworth

Front Page, Yesterday's El Periodico

Jos? Thom?s, bad ass.

Michael Kimmelman wrote a great article about this amazing bullfighter and the spirit of bullfighting in today's Spain: Bullfighting is Dead!

Jos? Tom?s Rom?n Mart?n ? fans call him by his double-barreled first name, Jos? Tom?s, or just Tom?s ? is a mystical figure in Spain. Quixotic, prone to public squabbling with bullfighting?s notoriously sleazy promoters and rarely given to speaking to the media, he keeps largely apart from his fellow matadors and fights much more infrequently than they do. His remoteness, in one respect, speaks to bullfighting?s disengagement with a growing segment of Spain, though his artistry and grace, along with his fearlessness (it shocks other matadors), make him a figure of widespread fascination. The contradiction seems to encapsulate something deep in the Spanish psyche.

Posted by Dennis at July 7, 2009 10:52 AM