The biterrois bullfighter formalized his stop in a press release Wednesday evening. History will remember that he made his last paseo on French soil in Nîmes on September 20.
“Sébastien said everything in his press release. It is up to all of us to respect his decision, which he carefully reasoned. Of course, I am extremely touched but, after having listened to him, I accepted his decision.” In a few sentences, Simon Casas gave his feelings on the bullfighter he would apode and with whom he aims to lead the arenas of Béziers next year.
Morally affected by the truncated season and the health crisis
The impresario was one of the very few to be in the secret because the press release published late Wednesday evening caused an earthquake among French aficionados it was so unexpected and sudden.
For weeks, the maestro Biterrois assured that he would postpone to the next season all the festivities planned to celebrate his twenty alternative where he had concocted great events in France and Spain. The Covid-19 pandemic and the truncated season touched him morally because Sébastien Castella was happy to celebrate with dignity this birthday of the greatest French bullfighter in history.
The Biterrois is a true artist, a sensitive and whole man who can have radical choices. Many believe, moreover, that this withdrawal of the toreo is a whim of the maestro. But Castella assures the opposite: “It’s a very difficult, very thoughtful decision, which coincides with my twenty years of alternative which I could not share as wanted.” Confirming the impact of this symbolic season when his projects evaporated.
Off statements before the Béziers feria certainly alerted him to his difficulty in motivating himself for a handful of bullfights and some noted an unusual nervousness and lack of pleasure for his last in Nîmes. But nothing really foreshadowed such a bomb and his aficionados are looking for explanations.
Personal and professional elements seem to have led to mental fatigue after having gone on without a break in the temporadas in Europe and America for years. However, a bullfighter must fully retain his ambition and his motivation to accept playing life on a daily basis. Especially when he’s the father of a family.
Discovering other universes
Moreover, his press release advances this argument after having mentioned the disappointment of this wasted temporada 2020: “I consider myself privileged. I think of my comrades who paid with their lives to conquer their dreams of enlightenment and made this profession even greater.”
Beyond taking full advantage of his family and his passion for horses in his finca
Andalusian, Sébastien Castella wants to “discover other universes” because he capitalized on the encounters offered by his figurative status to open up to different forms of art. He also wants to develop several projects in Seville, including the construction of a trendy café near the cathedral.
But the suddenness of the decision and the absence of a farewell tour that the French star of the toreo would have deserved feed the hope of a break in his brilliant career rather than a permanent retirement. Many figuras have done so in the past and several current stars of the escalafon like Talavante or Morante de la Puebla, have felt the need to take a step back before returning to the top.
Sébastien Castella does not close the door in his press release: “I don’t know if this is a final farewell or a simple goodbye. Only time holds the answer.”
95 trophies in the arenas of Nîmes
Sébastien Castella made his first paseo in the arenas of Nîmes on February 15, 1998, under the bubble during the Primavera feria alternating with Mateo Roman and Javier Castaño facing the erals of the Ganaderia Cévenole (source Arènes de Nîmes). His first formal novillada dates back to February 27, 2000, still under the bubble, with El Fandi and Javier Castaño. He made his presentation as a matador on September 15, 2000 with Miguel Abellán and Juan Bautista (toros de Samuel Flores). For his last, September 20, he cut an ear. In Nîmes, he obtained 95 trophies, or 92 ears and 3 tails.
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