Jose Miguel Arroyo Delgado

José Miguel Arroyo Delgado known as Joselito or Joselito Arroyo on the posters (Madrid, May 1, 1969) is a retired bullfighter and Spanish farmer.

He began his training as a bullfighting figure during his childhood at the Bullfighting School in Madrid. In 1985 he made his debut as a novillero in the Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, and the following year he took the alternative in Malaga, where he had the participation of Dámaso González as his godfather and Juan Mora as the witness. of the. On May 26, 1986, he received his confirmation in Madrid from the hands of Curro Romero and Francisco Ojeda as a witness. In 1987, shortly after becoming a bullfighter, he was severely gored by a bull from the Peñajara ranch named Limonero. This dramatic event, which left him away from the arena for a couple of months, marked a new phase in his bullfighting style, which is why he reappeared on the billboards with more leisurely and elegant tasks.

Biography

Early Years

José Miguel Arroyo Delgado was born in Madrid in 1969, in a humble home. His hobby and desire to become a bullfighter occurred after his biological father invited him to witness a bullfight in Las Ventas as a birthday present. In 1979 he entered the School of Bullfighting in Madrid, where he received the nickname & #34;El Lentejita". He would later adopt the nickname "Joselito", in part to avoid the confusion caused by the name José Miguel de Llana, which he had initially chosen for the posters, but which He was unknown among his classmates at the bullfighting school. The director of the school, Enrique Martín Arranz, told him at the time of his registration: "You are a scoundrel and what you do not want is to study." Shortly after he entered the School, he suffered the loss of his father at the age of 12, without ever seeing his son fight. A year after his father's death, the boy moved in with Enrique, whom he now considers his father, and who adopted him along with his wife Adela.

He coincided in his training with two other great bullfighters, although none achieved as much notoriety as Arroyo. These were José Pedro Prados, El Fundi and José Luis Bote. They shared posters both in their stage as novilleros as well as later converted into bullfighters. In fact, José Miguel confirmed the alternative to both of them at the San Isidro Fair held in Madrid. During his time as a student at the bullfighting school, he participated in a scene from the film Tú Sólo, which is a documentary directed by Teodoro Escamilla and which deals with the training and preparation of future bullfighters. In the tape that was shot in 1984, Joselito had a brief appearance in which he fights naked at night, in the same way way that Juan Belmonte did during his youth.

Novillero stage

Joselito debuted with picadores on September 8, 1983, in Lerma, with steers from Salustiano Galache, and in the company of Marcos Valverde and Sánchez Marcos. His first bullfight with picadores took place on May 3, 1985 at the Las Ventas bullring. On that occasion, he shared the bill with Pedro Lara and Rafael Camino, and steers from Martín Peñato's cattle ranch fought. In two years he managed to accumulate a total of 65 presentations. One of the most remembered tasks of his stage as a bullfighter was the one he performed in 1986 on the steer Sanluquero of Carlos Núñez's iron at the festival for the benefit of the victims of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, where he had the opportunity to share the bill with two great bullfighting figures, Manuel Benítez "El Cordobés" and Antonio Chenel, "Antoñete". That afternoon he managed to cut off two ears of his steer, and after the Success achieved in Las Ventas, he received an offer from the Chopera House to participate in fifteen bullfights in different cities of Spain and with the condition that he had to postpone his alternative, to take it in Burgos. However, Joselito rejected the offer, since he had previously planned his alternative in Malaga, and at the risk of losing important contracts. Despite everything, his magnificent performance in the square allowed him to achieve considerable popularity within the ranks and with barely 17 years old he decided to become a bullfighter.

Alternative and first stage (1986-1995)

He took the alternative in Málaga on April 20, 1986, in the La Malagueta bullring, with Dámaso González as godfather and Juan Mora as witness. He cut off an ear to the bull of the name ceremony Correrías and belonging to the emblem of Carlos Núñez. On May 26 of the same year, he confirmed the alternative in the Las Ventas square with Curro Romero as godfather and Francisco Ojeda as witness, and managed to cut an appendage to Cotidiano, a bull from the Aldeanueva cattle ranch. In his first year as a bullfighter, he performed in fifty festivities and achieved triumphs in Madrid, Valencia, Burgos, Granada, Salamanca, among others.

The bull of Peñajara

Madrid eagerly awaited the return of the young bullfighter to its fair posters. However, on May 15, 1987, a specimen from Peñajara named Limonero and weighing 697 kg, gored him ten centimeters deep in the neck, breaking his left clavicle. He was lucky the right-handed one, as it could have been fatal. He spent two months off until he recovered and returned to the ring to appear in Teruel. Despite the mishap, he fought 63 evenings that year.That incident would be decisive in his style and as the right-hander himself has stated: «When that first goring came, I saw that it was not coming down on me and there my bullfighting changed. He became calmer, more real. That Joselito who did everything at speed is over."

Joselito began the 1988 season as a renewed bullfighter, appearing in a total of fifty-four festivities, and where he cut off seventy-one ears. Among his presentations, special mention should be made of the bullfight on May 22, where he saw his subordinate, Antonio González, El Campeño, die in the ring after he suffered a dramatic goring to the neck by a bull from Antonio Arribas's ranch in the arena of Las Ventas, in full celebration of the San Isidro Fair. Also that year he was offered a multimillion-dollar exclusive contract by Manuel González that the right-hander would reject: «My fear and my hunger are administered by me ». Due to his refusal, he was banned from many places.

Sales Triumph

The 1989 season was the fulfillment of a dream. Joselito did an excellent job on a bull belonging to Atanasio Fernández named Cordobano, to which he cut off both ears, and managed to exit through the Puerta Grande de las Ventas. However, the season did not finish being round. It was not the case of the following season, which meant his consolidation despite not going to San Isidro. Triumphs such as those in Granada, Alicante, Badajoz, Burgos, Barcelona, Málaga or Bilbao were proof of his evolution as a bullfighter.

In the coming years, his trappings in Madrid, on the occasion of the Charity, where he came out again on shoulders, Zaragoza in 1994 and Valladolid in 1995 would consecrate him definitively as a figure of bullfighting. Joselito demonstrated an indisputable artistic and technical evolution. For those who considered him as varied and deep with the cape, as well as a good swordsman, he also ends up revealing himself as an excellent muleteer.

Rivalry with Ponce (1996)

For this year, the fashionable couple that appeared in all the conversations about the ideal poster was none other than Joselito and Enrique Ponce. Before beginning the Spanish season, on February 5, 1996 both coincide in a bullfight in Plaza México in Mexico. They both cut off a tail that afternoon. On February 25, 1996, Joselito performed, in his first great triumph in Plaza México, a memorable task cutting off two ears and a tail. The friendly rivalry between the two led to a season in which successes followed one another, and They coincided on numerous afternoons where they shared the bill. And it is in this year when Joselito would reach perhaps the greatest glory of his entire career. On May 2 he locked himself up in Madrid with a Goyaesque bullfight. José Miguel displayed all his art, showed a deep and varied repertoire and was compared to the greatest in the history of bullfighting. Six ears, nothing more and nothing less was the baggage harvested, allowing him to establish a mark that is very difficult to beat. He also passed his six opponents with six well-aimed thrusts. Two weeks later he went out again on shoulders in Madrid. On May 23, 1996, the so-called corrida de los quites took place. The rivalry with Ponce united the public, but the appearance of supporters of both became inevitable.

Puerta del Príncipe and descent (1997-1998)

Joselito performs with the crutch a pass sitting on the stirrup. (1999)

After a good start to the campaign in Castellón and Arlés, Joselito is announced at the April Fair in Seville on the 14th, and achieves the glory that remained in his record. He leaves through the Puerta del Príncipe and is carried by the fans to his hotel. However, that same day he suffers a wrist injury when he goes in to kill one of his bulls. After a month's absence, he reappears in San Isidro, where he cuts off an ear in his first appearance. On his second afternoon he would suffer a goring from a bull owned by Don Samuel Flores that incapacitated him for another month. He returned to the ring in Plasencia and from then on he began to be irregular with steel due to the injury suffered in Seville. The following season the discomfort persists and he tiptoes through Seville and Madrid. Not rounding off his performances with the sword makes a dent in the bullfighter and little by little he loses the illusion. It was after a somewhat successful solitary confinement in Seville when he made the decision to retire from the arena indefinitely.

Return to the ring and quasi-definitive retirement (2000-2004)

Joselito returns to the ring in 2000 and signs contracts in a good number of festivities. However, he does not go to the important Fairs due to conflicts with television, doing so in the following years. During his last stage as a bullfighter he would maintain idylls with places like Castellón or Zaragoza. On May 17, 2002, he suffered a mishap in the French square of Nimes and fractured his femur. After a limping year in 2003 due to this injury, he decided in February 2004 to end his career as a bullfighter. Joselito has always been against the idea of reappearing, and considers that he left him while he was still a figure and that is how people should remember him.

In April 2011, the Council of Ministers of Spain awarded him the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts.

Sporadic return to the ring (2014)

On January 31, 2014, it was announced that on June 15, 2014, he would fight again. It will be for a single bullfight in the Istres bullring, where Garcigrande bulls will be fought and he will alternate with Morante de la Puebla, giving Cayetano Ortiz the alternative. That day he would cut off 4 ears and 2 tails.

He is currently a rancher of the iron that bears his own name.