When the Matador Peered Into the Eyes of This Bull, This is What He Did

A story goes that during one tense bullfight, matador Álvaro Múnera did the unthinkable. As the crowd roared for the next dramatic move, he suddenly stepped away from the bull, walked to the edge of the arena, and sat down. Silence fell over the spectators.

Later, Múnera revealed the moment that transformed him forever:
“In that instant, I forgot the danger of the horns. All I could see were his eyes—not filled with rage, but with innocence. He wasn’t attacking; he was pleading for his life. I realized this was not a fight, but an act of cruelty. I dropped my sword, left the arena, and vowed never to fight again. Instead, I would fight against a world that turns suffering into entertainment.”

Múnera walked away from bullfighting and became an advocate against animal cruelty, using his platform to fight for the very beings he once battled. This story may be a powerful testament to the force of compassion and the courage it takes to change—but the story is false.

The truth in the story above is that a matador in the photo is intentionally striking a dangerous pose to challenge the bull.

Although Munera, also known as El Pilarico, was a famous Colombian matador, he was forced to quit and began to promote anti-bullfighting campaigns.

“It’s not me and that’s not what happened to me,” Munera admitted about the story.

Part of the quotation presented in many write-ups and posts exists, but it is out of context. The part of it that describes the bull’s eyes was published in Spanish newspaper El Pais, on July 30, 1995, well after Munera retired.

The bullfighter in the photo is performing a “desplante”, a common move in bullfighting in which the matador asserts his dominance over the bull by deliberately placing himself in a dangerous position. The emotion of the scene is defiance, not contrition.

The man in the photo above is actually Francisco Javier “Javi” Sanchez Vara, a famous Spanish bullfighter.

A bull named Terciopelo [Velvet] gored Múnera, in 1984. His manager “took me to Spain. I fought 22 times in Spain until on September 22 of 1984, I was caught by a bull. It gored me in the left leg and tossed me in the air,” he explained.

“This resulted in a spinal-cord injury and cranial trauma,” he continued.” The diagnosis was conclusive: I would never walk again.

Múnera was 18 years old back then. His best friend, “El Yiyo,” was gored to death months later, and the manager of both bullfighters committed suicide three years after that.

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