Disappointing Fuente Ymbro novillada at Las Ventas
The Autumn Fair at Madrid's Las Ventas bullring featured a long and dull novillada with Fuente Ymbro bulls that were caste-poor and tame. Novilleros Bruno Aloi, El Mene, and Pedro Luis failed to shine against the bland and rough animals. Nearly full stands witnessed a spectacle without notable triumphs.
The fifth event of the Autumn Fair, held on Friday, October 10, 2025, at the Las Ventas bullring, drew nearly 20,000 spectators for a Fuente Ymbro novillada that proved dull and tame. The animals, weighing between 485 and 512 kilos and fairly presented, were described as rough, bland, soft, and caste-poor, unsuitable for aspiring stars' triumphs.
Bruno Aloi faced the first, which lost its spirit after a long, rearward pic, but the president kept it in the ring despite protests, creating an 'animal dead on its feet' until the final dispatch. He earned silence with a thrust. His second, the fourth of the afternoon, was lackluster and short-ranged, tossing him without injury; another thrust brought silence with a warning.
El Mene displayed tasteful style but lacked grit in his bullfighting. Against his first, he started with clean right-hand muletazos, hampered by the bull's blandness; ovation for a rearward thrust with warning. The fifth, nobler, allowed initial recortes and soft trincherillas, but the faena reduced to loose details; another ovation for two pinches and descabellos.
Pedro Luis offered some details against his steady first, earning silence after a warning and thrust with second warning. For the sixth, the clearest and most repeating, he knelt in the center for a long cambiada, followed by a veronica, three chicuelinas, and an accelerated long. He opened the final third with estocadas and a trincherilla, achieving a pair of naturals before a toss while attempting the half-thrust after a pinch; final silence.
Aloi performed a tight quite by gaoneras on the sixth. Fuente Ymbro, as a factory of diverse bloodlines, lacks uniformity, and this novillada did not aid the toreros' dreams, who favored posing over ambition amid challenges.