Guerra retired in 1899, and his leave-taking was a source of much regret among the _aficionados_ of bull-fighting, who declared that he was the last of the great _toreros_. Pascual Millan, the chronicler of modern bull-fighting, asserts that the successors of Guerra cannot be compared with him for refinement and grace in their displays. He gives prominence to Antonio Fuentes, “the only one who came into the ring with some foundation, bringing a certain personal note which raised him a few inches above the common level.” Among the living exponents of the art of the _espada_ may be mentioned Torerito, Torres, Reverte, Ronal, Algabeño, and above all, “Bombita.”
The _corrida_ may seem to assume an undue importance in the life of Spain. It is, however, to be regarded as a reflection of the Spanish character, and bull-fighting in Madrid cannot be dismissed as a mere recreation of the mob. Bull-fighting is taken seriously among a serious-minded people, who regard it as one of the great institutions of the country. It is a survival of the warlike temper, a manifestation of the love of courage and the admiration for endurance, and it remains as the last vestige of the traditions of the age of chivalry in Spain.
This intense enthusiasm, this profound interest in the killing of bulls is bewildering to the foreigner, who cannot accept the sport in such a serious spirit. It is almost as grave a matter as a canon of the Church whether an _espada_ wields the sword in accordance with the tradition of the ring. The writers upon bull-fighting are divided into schools of critics and eulogists, who dissect every _pase_ minutely, or extol the “æsthetics” of a finished artist with the darts or the sword. There are volumes of serious literature upon the _lidia_, which amaze the stranger who peruses them. We have nothing like it in the sporting literature of England. Our books upon hunting or racing are not written with all the earnestness and fervour of treatises on matters of faith; but the taurine monographs of Spain are composed in the temper of piety, and the rules of the ring are set down as though they were the articles of a creed. When a famous jockey appears in the street, he is not mobbed by a crowd of admirers; but the _espada_ in Spain is acclaimed everywhere as a great hero and the darling of the people.