EL Fandi
David Fandila Marín was born in Granada on 13 June 1981 and made his debut as a picador (bullfighter mounted on horseback armed with a spear) in Santa Fé, a town close to the capital of Granada. He qualified as a bullfighter in his home town in June 2000 under the instruction of José María Manzanares.
The history of bullfighting in his family inspired his love for the fierce fighting bull, which he fell in love with after attending a bullfighting festival in the town of Alamilla, Granada, in 1995. Incidentally, this was very nearly not Fandila's destiny, because as a young boy he was a keen lover of skiing and was a member of the national ski team. However, fortunately, destiny, which takes us down the most unsuspecting paths, revealed that Fandila, to the delight of his family, his city and himself, would take to bullfighting.
As a student at the José Antonio Martín Municipal School for Bullfighting in Almería, Fandila learned the technique and the spirit of bullfighting, all that was left was his character, which is unique to each individual matador.
Such was the work of José Antonio Martín at the school that this naturally happy young boy with notable character, was captivated by the profession and his determined nature lead him to be a heroic bullfighter, a quality displayed by bullfighters who master the stages of the fight. Using banderillas and the muleta, his performances with both are varied, as are his movements with the cape.
David displays this ability to master the stages of the fight in all of his performances, making him at present one of the apprentice bullfighters with the best throw. When David qualified as a bullfighter, still an apprentice, his popularity soared enormously.
Having developed a keen interest in the evening training fights at the Las Ventas Bullring in Madrid, he displayed his ease in all stages of the fight and now, as a qualified matador, has continued to perfect and perform them with sheer brilliance.
With a cape he can perform bullfighting 'a la Verónica' on his knees, and might I add, very well, restrained and with style. I have seen him complete up to six Verónicas in this way, without faltering. With the brightly coloured banderillas (barbed darts) he approaches the bull excellently and positions them carefully on the neck, bringing the crowd to its feet with applause.
David really stands out in this stage of the fight and in addition to the stage when the matador must arrange the banderillas while walking the bull away from him. With the muleta, the weak point of a lot of matadors who use banderillas, El Fandi's natural passes shine. For me, this bullfighter is symbolic of the sheer heroism of the art of bullfighting - so much so that he earned the nickname the 'El Frascuelo resurrected'. Both were from Granada and both were brave bullfighters.
