Feria de Nîmes: for bullfighter Sébastien Castella, “Nîmes has become the first French arena at the international level”

Le matador Sébastien Castella, doublement à l’affiche de la feria. Midi Libre – Midi Libre

While the Biterrois bullfighter will make a quadruple in the Gard amphitheater in 2024, his statistics are exceptional with 87 ears, 3 tails and 16 Portes des Consuls before the start of the Feria de Pentecost.

2023 showed an artistic evolution of your toreo but an additional dimension of lidiador. You share this opinion ?

I don't know if that's the right term. Espla or, more recently, Chacon are lidiador bullfighters. But it’s another bullfight. I would rather say artistic and technical maturity even if in Madrid, last fall, I was. The challenge is to understand the bulls and look for the hidden qualities and solutions to those who are complex and no one sees. By coupling it with an artistic dimension, we can create striking faenas that good aficionados know how to enhance.

How does this start of temporada take place?

I am satisfied with the triumph in Arles and Easter Sunday in Seville in very complicated conditions with the ruedo which looked like a beach. I haven't hit any good bulls at Maestranza and Aguascalientes but, without the sword, I would have cut ears every day. In Castellon, I would have liked to be better and in Valencia I was unlucky at the sorteo. And there were triumphs and, above all, a lot of fun and a beautiful artistic dimension in Trujillo and Pozoblanco.

You seem to take this lack of luck in big arenas more philosophically than in the past ?

Experience and maturity teach you to be patient and that the essential thing lies in significant preparation. Luck always changes in a season. It will perhaps be in Madrid or Nîmes. When San Isidro arrives, a new temporada begins. I am prepared, I have fun and I remain calm because I know that the big moments will arrive. Like last year, where the beginnings were difficult on my return but I kept the faith and the time completely changed with Madrid and then it happened Seville, Mexico and all the triumphs summer.

Luck is the reward for hard work. It’s the fruit of sacrifice to evolve as an artist. This time is very important and I want to triumph every day. Although I am fortunate to have many opportunities thanks to my triumphs in 2023.

Why continue to multiply the paseos in the biggest arenas when some experienced figures prefer to limit their visits to Madrid ?

If we want to make history, we have to be present in the big arenas. The difficulty is not to triumph once in these ferias with great responsibility. It must be repeated over time as the greatest bullfighters have done. In life, and in all professions, the most complicated thing is to last because it requires work and questioning on a daily basis. I must wear the colors of France in the biggest arenas in the best way .

For the fourth time, you will do four paseos in Nîmes this year. Why ?

Not to mention the bond forged with this audience for more than twenty years, it’s also a question of responsibility. Thanks to the work of Simon Casas and the many events over the decades, Nîmes has become the leading French arena at the international level and one of the most important in the world. All Spaniards dream of bullfighting there. So, if I do three passes in Madrid, why not four in Nîmes ? I have to assume my responsibilities and that was my wish. I don’t forget a time when I was in conflict with the other arenas in France. Only Nîmes and Béziers remained faithful to me.

What are the three dates that you remember on the 48 paseos as a matador in Nîmes ?

When I started, I was in the harvest cartel with Cesar Rincon going mano a mano in 2005 in front of the Victoriano del Rio and I needed a triumph. The arenas were full and I had cut off one of my first ears. Before the last toro, the whole public encouraged me enormously and I cut off two ears to open my fourth Porte des Consuls as a matador.

The Adolfo Martin solo also had a huge impact on me. Personally, the only against six for Haiti satisfied me despite the controversies. I showed my values ​​as a Man. With the rain, the pack with the novillada, I had every reason to give up because it could harm me with three quarters of places sold. But when I make a decision, I always follow through. It was very hard to bullfight six bulls on a waterlogged ruedo. I cut off three ears despite pinchazos. But, in the end, I handed over a check for 290,000 euros. for the victims, which represented personal satisfaction in September.

Doing two bullfights in 48 hours is an added pressure to interest the public each time?

The people who come both days will choose to see me. You can't imagine faenas in advance. The pressure is to give the best of you but in toros two and two never make four. You have to adapt according to each person’s behavior. The Domecqs require a lot of precision in the "toques" if you want to produce quality passes. You have to put the muleta in the right place, at the right time, without being abrupt. In other ganaderias, the aficionado sees the difficulties more easily.

Aficionados have criticized this feria with only Domecq. What is your opinion ?

People forget that in the 70s and 80s, these bullfights were very complicated. Apart from Torrestrella, the figures did not want to perform them because they were complicated and technically demanding. They preferred the Murube, the Nuñez… They took the monopoly because they were more futuristic than others who did not evolve with bullfighting. I wanted to fight these four Domecq bullfights including the Margé.

Precisely, this Harvest bullfight is particularly close to your heart ?

It was I who proposed this fourth French bullfight to Simon Casas. Our bullfighting is in one of its best moments. We have many quality farms including Margé which is a flagship ganaderia which has shone in Madrid and Zaragoza and produces toros de vueltas or d’indulto every day in France. I wanted this cartel with the star Frenchwoman from Rejon, Lea Vicens, and Clemente who must confirm her great potential. It’s a tribute to our bullfighting and I wanted Nimeño II to be honored on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

What does he mean to you?

He is a model, an example for all children who dream of being a bullfighter. I watched a video over and over where he played guitar after a bullfight. It is the first to have crossed the borders of Spain, Mexico and Latin America. The accident happened at the wrong time. He became the star that France had always hoped for. I only knew his brother but we see that he was totally dedicated to his profession. We don't become bullfighters. We are born with it. And he is the only bullfighter in France of this era who was born a bullfighter. "Hasta la muerte".

This is why he became a figura. He showed us the meaning of sacrifice and living totally for the love of toro and our profession. He had everything: he was a bullfighter, had race, elegance. I recently saw a video of El Yiyo and it was the same in his toreo with the cape and, above all, the muleta.

We feel a personal evolution and the desire to leave a legacy…

Certainly. I am at an advanced stage of my career and I hope that succession will be assured. But I know how difficult it is to be a bullfighter. It’s almost impossible as it takes patience, willpower and the strength to overcome the blows. Not those of the bulls. Many promises are not kept and your dreams are played with. Patience is the key quality. In life as in front of the bull. If you are not, you are falling into vulgarity. You have to wait for the bull to show you its little light to highlight it. You also have to know how to play life completely over time. It’s very difficult.

You have started your San Isidro. Madrid is still so special to you ?

It’s always the key moment of my season. The day I no longer have the same desire in Las Ventas, I will leave the costume. It’s a question of respect for this aficion and my profession. My ambition increases every year and, as a result, you agree to throw the change in the air and you don't know if you will return to the hotel. I can't explain it. It’s buried deep within my body and my head.

As soon as I order my suit for Madrid from "sastre", I already start dreaming. The Madrid crowd is very tough but they are fair. It requires total commitment and does not accept finding technical remedies. If you are pure and true, they know how to value it. Whether it's tendido 7 or 11, with their costume, or on television. It’s so hard to put the muleta in front, cross yourself and offer your body to the toro knowing that he can catch you at any moment. Enrique Ponce thus won his last big gate. In reality, Madrid is as easy as it is complicated. The last gesture you are missing to make history in Las Ventas is a solo because no bullfighter has experienced a great triumph in a long time…hellip; Time will tell!

What is the secret of this false date of birth that makes you two years younger ?

(Laughs) I don't know! They always put 1983, so we leave 1983! Some know the real date, others do not. No matter.

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