Norma Gaona María de los Ángeles Sanz Isabel Sánchez-Flor
Children
Francisco Camino Gaona (d. 2023) Rafi Camino (b. 1969) Mariam Camino (b. 1971) Francisco Javier Camino (b. 1973)
Parent
Rafael Camino (father)
Relative(s)
Joaquín Camino Sánchez (1943–1973; brother) Rafael Camino Sánchez (brother)
Other interests
Spanish Fighting Bull husbandry
Francisco Camino Sánchez (Spanish:[fɾanˈθiskokaˈminoˈsantʃeθ]; 14 December 1940 – 29 July 2024), known in the bullfighting world as Paco Camino (Spanish:[ˈpakokaˈmino]),[2] was a Spanish bullfighter and bull breeder. A bullfighter of the highest order, he dominated tauromachy and was twelve times borne shoulder-high out through the Great Gate at Las Ventas in Madrid, a record bested only by Santiago Martín Sánchez ("El Viti").
Camino's association with bullfighting went all the way back to his baptism, at which he was covered with a capote de paseo.[3][note 1] Furthermore, Camino's father was the former novillero Rafael Camino ("Rafaelillo de Camas"[3]), who accompanied him for a while as a banderillero. He was nicknamed "el Niño sabio de Camas" ("The Wise Child from Camas") for his precocity in the art of bullfighting.[4] This byname was given him by the bullfighting critic Antonio Díaz-Cañabate.[5]
Before giving himself over wholly to bullfighting, Camino was an employee at a baker's oven.[6]
Camino made his début with picadores on 7 September 1958 at the Zaragoza bullring with bulls supplied by the Francisco Escudero Muriel ranch, sharing billing with the Portuguese bullfighter José Júlio, and with Mariano Tirapo "Chiquito de Aragón". He cut three ears at this event, and was borne shoulder-high out through the Great Gate.[3]
Camino took his alternativa at the Valencia bullring on 17 March 1959. Standing as "godfather" was Jaime Ostos, while Juan García Jiménez ("Mondeño") bore witness.[4] The bull used in the ceremony was named Mandarín, and came from the Antonio y Carlos Urquijo de Federico ranch. That afternoon, he cut one ear from each of the two bulls that he fought.[3]
On 18 July 1959, Camino shared billing with Rafael Soto "Rafael de Paula" and Juan Vázquez at the Maestranza in Seville as they fought bulls supplied by the Pérez de la Concha ranch. Camino left both his bulls earless, four ears being quite a prize for a young bullfighter.[3]
Since he was a boy, Camino had admired Antonio Ordóñez,[8] with whom he appeared as a matador at a mano a mano (a bullfighting event at which there are only two bullfighters on the bill rather than the usual three) on 28 July 1960 in Valencia. His presentation as a matador at the Maestranza in Seville on 19 Aril 1961 likewise included Ordóñez on the bill, along with his alternativa witness, Mondeño. The bulls that they fought were from the Hermanos Peralta ranch.[3]
Camino received confirmation of his alternativa at Las Ventas on 12 May 1961. Standing as "godfather" this time was Julio Aparicio Martínez, and bearing witness was José María Clavel (who was at the bullring that day to fill in for fellow bullfighter Antonio Borrero Morano "Chamaco"[3]). The bull for the confirmation was named Espejito, from the Antonio Pérez de San Fernando ranch.[3][4] On 22 August 1961, Camino suffered a very serious goring after entering the bullfighting ground to slay Cardiaco, an Atanasio Fernández crossbreed bull, at the Vista Alegre bullring in Bilbao, and performing the volapié, the usual way in Spanish-style bullfighting of delivering the estocada (the sword thrust meant to kill the bull). Camino was quickly taken to the bullring's infirmary, where he received Extreme Unction. He was given the same sacrament nineteen years later, in Aranjuez, when he was once again seriously gored.[6]
Camino also received confirmation of his alternativa in Mexico. This took place at the Plaza de Toros México in Mexico City on 16 December 1962. Standing as "godfather" then was Antonio Velázquez, while Humberto Moro bore witness. The José Julián Llaguno ranch supplied the bulls, including Recuerdo, the bull used in the confirmation. He cut one ear on this occasion.[3]
Camino led the escalafón taurino (bullfighters' rankings) in 1963, the year when he first found himself being borne out through the Great Gate at Las Ventas, and in 1966. In this latter year, he was represented by the Chopera family and starred in the bullfighting film Fray Torero, directed by José Luis Sáenz de Heredia.[9] On 29 October 1967, he presented himself at the Plaza de toros de Acho in Lima, where he refused to slay the afternoon's fifth bull, for which kindness the authorities decreed that he should be taken to prison and held for 24 hours.[10][11]
In his twenty bullfighting seasons as a matador, Camino fought in 1,490 corridas, cutting 1,176 ears and 126 tails as he went.[9] He fought bulls on more than fifty afternoons at Las Ventas in Madrid alone, reaping 48 ears and being borne on his fellow bullfighters' shoulders out through the Great Gate twelve times, on these dates (listed along with the accomplishments that earned Camino these acts of recognition):
18 May 1963 — He left one bull from the Francisco Galache de Hernandinos ranch earless, and cut one further ear;
18 May 1967 — He cut three ears from bulls supplied by the Juan Pedro Domecq ranch;
26 May 1967 — One bull from the José Benítez Cubero ranch yielded both ears;
13 May 1968 — He reaped three ears from bulls supplied by the Antonio Pérez Angoso and Antonio Pérez de San Fernando ranches;
16 May 1969 — He left a bull from the Baltasar Ibán Valdés ranch without ears;
4 June 1970 — He appeared at this corrida as the lone matador and slew seven bulls, reaping not only eight ears, but also one ovation and one round of applause; the seven bulls were supplied by the Juan Pedro Domecq, Joaquín Buendía, Felipe Bartolomé Sanz, Eduardo Miura Fernández, Urquijo, and Manuel Arranz ranches; he was awarded a reserve bull (a sobrero);
29 May 1971 — He came away with both one bull's ears; the bull was from Pablo Romero's sons' ranch;
23 May 1972 — The Manuel Arranz ranch's bulls yielded three ears to him;
21 May 1973 — He reaped three ears from bulls supplied by the Juan Pedro Domecq ranch;
6 June 1974 — He left one of the Joaquín Buendía ranch's bulls earless;
22 May 1975 — He got both ears from a bull that came from the El Jaral de la Mira ranch;
24 May 1976 — The bulls supplied by the Baltasar Ibán Valdés ranch yielded three ears to him.[3]
These twelve trips out through the gate at the bullfighting world's foremost bullring put Camino behind only El Viti in the number of times that this honour has been bestowed, and just ahead of Antonio Bienvenida.[12] He sustained some thirty gorings, two of which were very serious, in Bilbao in 1961 and at Aranjuez in 1980.[6]
On 4 June 1970, Camino starred in a memorable charitable bullfight, slaying seven bulls by himself and cutting eight ears.[13]
Camino definitively retired from the bullrings at Valladolid on 23 September 1983. He donned the suit of lights for the last time at Nîmes, in 1987, to give his son, Rafi Camino, his alternativa.[3][6]
Later life
Camino was awarded the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts in 2005. This same year, he underwent a successful liver transplant after having been on the waiting list for more than two years.[14] From 1996 onwards, he was linked to the bullfighting world through his bull ranch, Los Camino.[15]
Personal life
Camino's brother, Joaquín Camino Sánchez, a subalterno on his bullfighting team (cuadrilla), was killed on 3 June 1973 at La Monumental in Barcelona when a bull named Curioso from the Atanasio Fernández ranch gored him.[6]
Camino wed three times. His first marriage came in November 1963; the bride was Norma Gaona, Plaza de Toros México businessman Alfonso Gaona de Lara's daughter. They agreed to live in Spain, but only two years later, they chose to separate, as Norma (described by one writer as being "of volcanic character") was not adapting at all well to life far from her homeland, Mexico. The couple had one son, Francisco, who also later ventured into the bullfighting world. Francisco, however, died of cancer in 2023.[6]
Camino's next marriage was to the Madrileña María de los Ángeles Sanz, said to be Norma's "polar opposite", whom he met in the late 1960s. She was an agricultural technical engineer. They had to wait until 1973, though, before they could get married in the Church's eyes, as it took that long for Camino to secure a dissolution of his marriage to his first wife. In the meantime, he and María had had three children, Rafi (in 1969), Mariam (in 1971) and Francisco Javier (1973). To all appearances, theirs was a stable marriage; so news of their separation in 1989 came as a surprise. It turned out that Camino had fallen in love with a woman, 17 years younger than himself, from La Mancha, by the name of Isabel Sánchez-Flor, the daughter of a wealthy clothing businessman. They were married in a civil ceremony in Valencia in 1994.[6]
Camino was father to four children, among them Rafi Camino, who is likewise a bullfighter.[16]
Death and tributes
Camino died on 29 July 2024 in Navalmoral de la Mata in the Extremaduran province of Cáceres at the age of 83. His health had taken a turn for the worse and he had been hospitalized.[6][7]
The town council in Camino's birthplace, Camas, in the Andalusian province of Seville, observed a minute's silence and declared a day of mourning in memory of an "emblematic figure". Camas would also open its council chamber as a capilla ardiente (literally "burning chapel", a chapel of rest) where Camino could lie in repose so that family and friends could bid their last farewells "to him who was one of bullfighting's greats".[6]
The visitors included Álvaro Domecq Romero (a bull breeder and former rejoneador), Eduardo Dávila Miura, brothers José Antonio and Tomás Campuzano (all matadors), David Domínguez (a banderillero), Lolo de Camas (a picador), and Curro Romero, a former bullfighter who was ninety years old by this time.[17]
Camino's coffin was presented beneath a mantle of Our Lady of Sorrows, a devotional figure closely linked to the bullfighter.[17]
Miguel Ángel Yáñez said of Camino "A controversial bullfighter, a highly refined stylist with the cape, magnificent with the muleta, he preferred the left to the right. Classic, confident, he gave sublime chicuelinas,[note 2] knowledgeable, intelligent; in short, a gifted bullfighter."[7]
Consuelo Font, writing for El Mundo, offered "His refined style with the cape and the beautiful rhythm that he drew with his wrist in his natural passes earned him the fans' admiration, raising him to the top of the escalafón."[6]
Eduardo Dávila Miura called Camino a "mythic figure" in bullfighting.[17]
Camino was buried in Camas's municipal graveyard, where his brother Joaquín had already lain for more than half a century.[2][17]
Notes
↑ A capote de paseo is a special kind of decorative, ceremonial cape worn by a bullfighter with his suit of lights at such ceremonial occasions as the paseíllo; it is not used in bullfights.
↑ The chicuelina is a bullfighting move performed with the cape by calling the bull from the front, holding the cape with both arms open, semi-extended. When the bull charges, the bullfighter turns half a turn on himself in the opposite direction to the bull's charge, in such a way that his body is wrapped in the cape, with the bull passing by on one side. This is named after the bullfighter Manuel Jiménez (1902-1967), nicknamed Chicuelo, who performed it for the first time at the Valencia bullring in 1924.
Related Research Articles
Francisco Romero López, better known as Curro Romero, and nicknamed El Faraón de Camas, is a Spanish bullfighter. He began his professional career in his hometown's La Pañoleta neighbourhood on 22 August 1954, together with José Martínez Limeño.
Francisco Rivera Pérez, better known as Paquirri, was a Spanish bullfighter. He died after being gored by a bull named Avispado at the Pozoblanco bullring. During his career, he was six times borne shoulder-high out through the Great Gate at Las Ventas.
El Fandi is statistically one of the most skilled matadors in the world. Currently, he is ranked number one among all bullfighters in Spain.
Víctor Barrio Hernanz, known as Víctor Barrio, was a Spanish bullfighter who died at the age of 29 when he was gored in the chest by a bull named Lorenzo at the Teruel bullring.
Miguel Báez Espuny, better known as "El Litri", was a Spanish bullfighter, a descendant of one of Huelva's foremost bullfighting dynasties.
Iván Fandiño Barros was a Spanish bullfighter. He died when a bull named Provechito gored him during a bullfight at the bullring in Aire-sur-l'Adour in the south of France, only 343 days after fellow Spanish bullfighter Víctor Barrio had met the same fate.
Pablo Lozano Martín, commonly known as La Muleta de Castilla, was a Spanish bullfighter and fighting bull cattle rancher, owner of cattle raising Alcurrucén and "Hermanos Lozano".
Antonio Mejías Jiménez, better known as Antonio Bienvenida, was a Venezuelan-born Spanish bullfighter who belonged to the Bienvenida bullfighting dynasty. Eleven times he came out, borne on his fellow bullfighters' shoulders, through the Great Gate at Las Ventas as one of the most important bullfighting figures of the 1950s. Among bullfighting aficionados, the Bienvenida dynasty has been one of the most glorious in tauromachy's history. It was founded by Manuel Mejías Rapela Bienvenida, nicknamed "El Papa Negro", itself a nickname for the superior general of the Society of Jesus, and in this case, it was meant to distinguish him from the head of the bullfighting "church", Ricardo Torres Reina "Bombita".
José Luis Vázquez Garcés, better known as Pepe Luis Vázquez, the same name that his son would later use professionally, was a Spanish bullfighter, considered one of 20th-century bullfighting's most significant figures.
José Luis Vázquez Silva, better known as Pepe Luis Vázquez, the same name that his father had used professionally, was a Spanish bullfighter, the youngest in a bullfighting "dynasty" in Seville that stretches back to the nineteenth century.
Andrés Mazariegos Vázquez, known professionally as Andrés Vázquez "El Nono", was a Spanish bullfighter. Among his influences in tauromachy were Juan Belmonte, Domingo Ortega and Antonio Bienvenida. He was awarded the Order of Beneficence in 1975, and ten times he came out of the Great Gate at Las Ventas. He had great success fighting bulls from the Victorino ranch.
Ángel Teruel Peñalver, professionally known as Ángel Teruel, was a Spanish bullfighter, the star of the escalafón taurino in the 1960s and early 1970s.
José María Dols Abellán, known professionally as José Mari Manzanares was a Spanish bullfighter, son of the banderillero Pepe Dols and father of José María Dols Samper, likewise a bullfighter.
José María Dols Samper, also known professionally as José Mari Manzanares hijo is a Spanish bullfighter and model. He has twice been borne shoulder-high out through the Great Gate at the Las Ventas bullring in Madrid.
Rafael Cerro Ginés is a Spanish bullfighter who is currently active in the world of tauromachy, albeit in a more managerial capacity nowadays.
Avelino Julio Robles Hernández, usually known as Julio Robles, was a Spanish bullfighter whose career in Spain's bullrings was cut short by a life-altering injury during a bullfight. He went on to become a bull breeder for the last few years of his life, maintaining a link to his foremost passion even after losing most of his motor functions.
Jesús Martínez Barrios, known as Morenito de Aranda is a Spanish bullfighter. Born in a small town in Burgos, he had no family background in bullfighting, but has nonetheless become a well known matador in his own country and abroad. His interests also extend to raising the very cattle that he fights at a farm that he established.
Antonio Chenel Albadalejo, professionally and popularly known as Antoñete, was a Spanish bullfighter. His family had no background in bullfighting beyond Antoñete's father having been a monosabio.
Julio Aparicio Martínez is a retired Spanish bullfighter and a cattleman.
Joaquín Rodríguez Ortega, professionally known as Cagancho, was a Spanish bullfighter much of whose career was spent in Mexico, although he did sometimes perform in his native Spain, and one of his performances there, in Almagro, Ciudad Real in 1927 even gave rise to a now well known expression in the Spanish language.
References
↑ "CAMINO, PACO". andalupedia.es (in Spanish). Andalupedia. 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
↑ "Paco Camino: «El toro de antes era menos uniforme que el de ahora»". abc.es (in Spanish). ABC. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2024. Camino no tuvo inconveniente en hablar de otros compañeros de su época, destacando su admiración por Antonio Ordóñez . «En los toros –dijo el maestro- hay que fijarse en todos y yo me fijé en Ordóñez, le admiraba desde chico».
Abella, Carlos (1994). Paco Camino. El Mozart del toreo. Colección La Tauromaquia, Espasa Calpe, ISBN 43437603
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
