RAFAEL GONZÁLEZ MADRID “MACHAQUITO”
Bullfighter born in January 2nd, 1880 in Córdoba, in the bullfighter neighborhood of Campo de la Merced. He worked since he was little in a near slaughterhouse, school of many bullfighting figures, and got affectionate to the art of bullfighting. He killed his first steer at the age of 16 in a capea along with Rafael Molina Martínez “Lagartijo Chico”, with whom he paired afterwards within the Cuadrilla de Niños Cordobenses organized by Rafael Sánchez “Bebe”.
He presented himself in Madrid, in September 8th, 1898, taking the alternative in the same square in September 16th, 1900.
In 1902 they gave him the Cross of Charity with Excellence for saving a big amount of people the afternoon of August, 29th, 1902, when a chunk of the seats fell down and the audience fell inside the arena just when the first bull had been released. Machaquito grabbed a crutch and a rapier and with a superb thrust he made the bull roll before getting to the audience.
In October 16th, 1913, Juan Belmonte receives the alternative in Madrid by Machaquito.
In October 21th, 1913, Machaquito cuts his pigtail off in front of his family. This was the announcement of his retire from the arena. With this simple and traditional act a whole bullfighting era ended.
On a certain occasion, he said to the current owner, Manuel Reyes Roldán, that the anise had gave him more fame than the bullfighting world. He said: “They know me in Córdoba and little else, but the shole commercial word knows you with my nickname”.
