“The battle is won by will and knowing where to go.”

The right-hander, successor to bullfighting and an icon of the festival and Spain in the 1960s, received it on Monday Thirdly, the Great Captain Awardwhich the ABC awards to people born in Cordoba or the province and who have distinguished themselves by outstanding character road Recognized nationally and internationally.

The world of bullfighting, culture, business and the Cordoba community in general supported El Cordobis in handing out this award. Such was the case with Manuel Benitez, who turns 90 in May, and who first burst onto the scene as a spontaneous performer in 1957 to emerge as a player. Bullfighter His absolute control over the party.

The award is sponsored by Caixa Bank Andalusia Regional Director, Juan Ignacio Zafra, who admitted that he is a fan of the festival and for this reason praised the value of Cordobi: “He was the bullfighter who brought about a great transformation in bullfightingBecause he turned it into a show that could be seen on television and internationalized it like no other, because he took it to the White House with the Kennedys. The summary was The ability to overcomeBecause for many he was an example of how to go from hardship to dream and achieve it.

Director of ABC Cordoba, Francisco J. BoyatoHe compared the character of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, the great captain, who gave his name to the award that was awarded yesterday for the third time, and El Cordoba. The soldier from Montella was the “Great Caliph.” Spanish armies“Rebellious and innovative, he changed the philosophy of war and conquest.”

Manuel Benitez is “the great leader who revolutionized the doctrine of art in which there is only one possible reality, which is life or death.” He remembered how he was cruelly forged OrphanWhich forces us to live face to face), childhood without school, and “the need that increases our ingenuity.”

“It was a life without a real screenplay, because no one was leading the ranks like him, and he was also able to raise the status of his peers.” He talked about his country 789 runsFrom his 120 celebrations in just one season, from his constant “no tickets” wherever he passed, and his meeting with… The Beatles With this film, which he was unable to film due to disagreement with Brian Epstein: “At that time, they offered thirty million dollars, but the teacher rejected the offer.”

He later received his third ABC Great Captain Award, which he received from CaixaBank Regional Director, ABC Andalusia Director, Alvaro Rodriguez guitarMayor of Cordoba, Jose Maria BellidoAmidst great applause from those who came to listen to him.

Bellido

From there the discussion began between Francisco J. Boyato and the journalist Victor MolinoABC Córdoba’s bullfighting critic spoke with Manuel “El Cordobis” Benítez. “I will never regret something that cost me so much. Did I do something wrong? It was the answer to the first question, whether there was anything I didn’t want to do. But such a long life is not understood He regrets. The Fifth Caliph’s popular rhetoric and his style of telling things, full of grace, immediately astonished those who came to support him.

He talked about his childhood, and Fathers They quickly departed, leaving their five children in the care of the eldest son, who had to carry them all. “We didn’t have a home. We lived in a corral, with a mattress on the floor. “I would look for food with a small bag, in case I could find fruit, some potatoes and some vegetables.” Then that famous phrase would be: “Either I buy you a house or dress you in mourning clothes.”

At the height of their fame, Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins built their story into a story a novel. From there to Aranjuez, where one of his sisters was serving in a house, and the famous man jumped into the ring in 1957, when he was severely beaten by the bull. “I wanted to go to France to shoot beetBut when I was in line, the service was cut off, because they had already covered all the people who needed it. “I would be miserable, not even picking beets,” he explained of his beginnings.

For him, success in bullfighting was above all a way to make money. Not in vain said how 80,000 pesetas He bought a house in Palma del Río for his sister, “small but new.” “First things first.” At some point, “you will enter into the orbit of victory.”

I didn’t know much about bullfighting at the time, but I was committed: “I knew if the audience was willing to applaud me more or less, and that’s what they did. I saw the reactions of the audience. It was as if laser beams were being sent at me, and I also saw Bull reactions». He stressed that “battles are won when there is a will, you are focused and you know where you want to go.”

He did it out of basic respect for the fan, because whoever goes to the arena “exchanges what you give him for money, and you have to give him money.” glory So that it is repeated. There was a bullfighter from Cordoba Jose Maria Montillawith whom he shared afternoons in Alberu and with whom he melted in an embrace a short time ago. “He was an artistic bullfighter, but he did not attract much attention from the public, because for that you had to be an artist and an expert. “With something else he wouldn’t get hooked.”

Not everyone knows what they are capable of Fly a planeAnd what he learned in it Mexicowith a family from Monterey who were very fond of him, got the license for him, and told him all the details and with the knowledge of the wind and the altitude at which you had to fly so that the device would not collapse.

Competitions? ABC director Córdoba asked him if he was afraid of any other matador in his ranks, and he responded with a phrase that sparked laughter and applause: “I was afraid of bulls. We went with José María Montilla to the fight and to earsSo things go well for both of us.

They wanted to rely on him for Expo 92 in Seville and asked for a legendary figure: One billion pesetasWhich, of course, they didn’t give him: “With everything the show conveyed, I wasn’t going to be left behind, because we had to go to the money.” He said with good humor: “We are all the Treasury, and we have to build swamps, roads and hospitals and put a little of everything in them, but it is not normal in my case to keep 75 percent.” He pointed to his agent, El BepoHe said: “For me, he was Don Rafael, with respect, because he bet on me.”

He did not ignore the party’s situation in Cordoba, where there was no “leader who could withdraw, because the party bird “You can’t just go by carts, you need a machine.” “And nothing helps, because the arena, which took a lot of work to build, will be left for concerts. “I could live for many years, but not in bullfighting,” he admitted. He is now dedicated to his foundation: “Everything for Cordoba. I didn’t leave. “I’m still here, in Cordoba and in my city.”

Mayor of Cordoba, Jose Maria BellidoThe event concluded by thanking El Cordobis for literally “carrying the city’s name around the world,” as it has become code“, “Something within the reach of a very select few.”