Julio Aparicio Martínez

Julio Aparicio Martínez (; born 13 February 1932) is a retired Spanish bullfighter and cattleman.

Biography Aparicio was born on 13 February 1932 in the city of Madrid. His father, Julián Aparicio Nieto, was a novillero (novice bullfighter who fights bull calves) and a banderillero. In 1947, at the age of 15, he appeared at two bullfighting events without picadores. He made his début with horses (that is, with picadores) at Puertollano in the province of Ciudad Real (his father's birthplace) on 6 May 1948, cutting three ears from the calves that he had slain. He presented himself as a novillero at Las Ventas in Madrid on 19 June 1949, alternating with Luis Rivas and Pablo Lalanda. Five of the bull calves for the event came from the Don Antonio Pérez de San Fernando ranch, whereas the last was supplied by the Doña María Montalvo ranch.

Aparicio was borne shoulder-high out through the Great Gate at Las Ventas four times as a novillero, twice each in 1949 and 1950. He got great ovations for the bulls that he fought. In 1964, he was awarded the Cross of the Order of Beneficence for the great number of charitable bullfights in which he had participated.

Aparicio is one of Chinchón's (a town in the Community of Madrid) Favourite Sons. In Barcelona, he was once an idol, whereas in Seville, he did not enjoy the greatest of fandom. Until his retirement in 1969, he kept himself among the bullfighting stars, triumphing to great clamour on many occasions, such as those at Las Ventas in 1951 and 1952, Mexico in 1954, and Ronda in 1964 and 1969. These successes, however, were interspersed with serious gorings, like the ones that he sustained in Barcelona on 8 April 1956, in San Sebastián in 1960, in Morelia, Mexico in 1951, and in Arles, France on 10 September 1965.

By bullfighting season, Aparicio saw 19 novilladas (novice bullfights) in Spain in 1948, 72 in 1949, and 90 in 1950. After his alternativa that last year, when he became a fully-fledged matador, he saw 70 corridas in 1951, 49 in 1952, 34 in 1953, 35 in 1954, 40 in 1955, 37 in 1956, 43 in 1957, 43 in 1958, 33 in 1959, 29 in 1960, 32 in 1961, and 1 in 1964.

Retirement On 24 August 1969, Aparicio retired for good from the bullrings at La Monumental in Barcelona, alternating with the Mexican bullfighter Antonio Lamelín and José Luis Segura. The Campocerrado ranch laid on the bulls that afternoon. Loreto died on 28 August 2011. He nowadays gives himself over to agriculture and raising fighting cattle on his farm, La Herrera, in the Province of Cáceres. The ranch was founded in 1958, and Aparicio inherited it .