Israel Guirao triumphs on his homeland's day at «Camino hacia Las Ventas»

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Israel Guirao triumphs on his homeland's day at «Camino hacia Las Ventas».

Israel Guirao triumphiert am Tag seiner Heimat beim «Camino hacia Las Ventas».

On 9 October 2026, Día de la Comunidad Valenciana, novillero Israel Guirao from Valencia won the final of the «Camino hacia Las Ventas» in Madrid. At the Plaza de Las Ventas, he cut an ear from the fifth eral — the only ear of the entire final event. For the young bullfighter from the Escuela Taurina de Navas del Rey-Valencia, it was a triumph brimming with symbolic power, as El Mundo and ABC report in agreement.

You may be wondering what this «Camino hacia Las Ventas» actually is: it is one of the most important youth competitions in Spanish bullfighting — a Certamen de novilladas sin picadores, that is, a competition for bullfighters who face bulls without the mounted picador assistant and against animals that have not yet shed the tips of their horns. Whoever triumphs here stands, symbolically, on the road to the great arena of Las Ventas.

Guirao had qualified for the grand final in Madrid over the course of the season. The victory on the Valencian holiday then turned the triumph into a deeply personal story — the headline in ABC sums it up: «honra a su tierra» — he honours his homeland.

Why the fifth bull was the key

According to the specialist site Toro-live and Tercio de Quites, Guirao had already let chances slip in the first bull of his lote — he had not finished decisively enough «con la espada». It was only in the second animal of his lote, that very fifth bull of the entire tarde, that he found a worthy opponent.

With the capote — the large cloth — he displayed «mucha soltura», a great deal of looseness, as ABC writes. With the muleta, he reached his best performance against the fifth bull: «al que entendió desde el principio, con mucha cabeza y buena colocación» — one he understood from the outset, with plenty of headwork and good placement. Tercio de Quites particularly highlights the «faena al natural», the left-handed naturales passes.

The result: one ear for Guirao — and at the same time the only ear of the entire final day, as Toro-live explicitly emphasises.

Peláez with an ovation, Manzur empty-handed

Marco Peláez, a Mexican novillero from the Escuela Taurina de Colmenar Viejo, earned an «ovación» — an ovation in the tendido — with the third bull. That means applause and recognition, but no trophy. Joaquín Manzur, from the Escuela Citar, left the ring «de vacío», that is, without any trophy at all. Thus Guirao remained the only novillero of the evening to leave the ring with a concrete trophy — the cut ear.

For Peláez, who according to El Mundo («gusta el mexicano Marco Peláez») pleased with his style, reaching the final was still a notable success.

The bulls from Guadajira

The six erales — young bulls — of the final event came from the Guadajira breeding. El Mundo speaks of a «notable novillada», a remarkable selection of bulls that offered the audience play and movement. The specialist site Toros en el Mundo lists the animals individually and describes them as «manejables», easy to handle, with the exception of the sixth bull, which stepped out of line. For the novilleros, that means: the animals offered chances, but no gifts. Anyone who wanted to take something from this novillada had to do their homework.

Atmosphere in Las Ventas — and two different attendance figures

«Gran ambiente en los tendidos», a great atmosphere in the stands — that is how several sources describe the evening. When it comes to exact attendance figures, however, the numbers diverge: El Mundo speaks of «unas 12.000 personas» (around 12,000 people), while Toros en el Mundo reports that the plaza's operating company announced 22,964 tickets sold. The two figures are not mutually exclusive: the number of tickets sold is generally higher than the number of people actually present.

What this evening says about the novillería

If you follow the Spanish bullfighting scene, you know: the «Camino hacia Las Ventas» is a springboard. Whoever triumphs here commands the attention of the major houses, the apoderados and the prensa especializada. For Israel Guirao, the XIV edition of this competition thus marks the first milestone of a career still wide open. What you can take away from the evening: a young Valenciano, on his homeland's day, won Madrid's most important youth competition — accompanied by an ear, an ovation for a Mexican rival, and a great atmosphere in the stands.