Baby-faced matadors the rage in Mexico

MERIDA, Mexico — They are not allowed to fight professionally in Spain, but baby-faced bullfighters are the rage throughout Mexico. Even though some of the school-age children are not much taller than the bulls they confront, these mini-matadors have begun getting top billing from promoters, who view them as a new way to bring people to the arena.

It is difficult to know exactly how many of them are fighting across the country, and there is no Mexican law that limits their age.

The children confront very real danger in the ring, and their fights still end with the traditional killing of the bull. As their appearances have grown more frequent, so, too, has criticism.

Jairo Miguel, 14, an apprentice bullfighter who is following in the footsteps of his father, knows the danger better than most. A Spaniard who began his professional career in Mexico at 12, Jairo was gored so seriously on April 15 in Aguascalientes that he was near death. The bull, weighing in excess of 900 pounds, pierced his left lung, coming within an inch of his heart.

"We've had the opportunity to take care of other bullfighters but nothing this serious," said Dr. Alfredo Ruiz Romero, the surgeon who treated him. "And he's the youngest bullfighter we've seen. He's a boy."

As for whether he is too young to face bulls, Ruiz demurred.

"It's a question that's hard to answer," he said. "There are many risks in life. I doubt the father is forcing him to do this. He may be influencing him, but this boy wants to be a bullfighter. When you talk to him, you see that. He's serious about it."

Despite the run-ins, Jairo shows no interest in hanging up his sequined suit and forgoing the thousands of dollars — and potentially tens of thousands of dollars — he can make for every bull he kills.

"I've never thought of quitting," Jairo said. "I've spent my life doing this. This is what I love."

Even tinier but just as committed as a bullfighter is 9-year-old Michelito Lagravere Peniche, who is also following in his matador father's footsteps.

"Those who know how to bullfight aren't scared," said Michelito.

"As a mother, of course I'm concerned," said Diana Peniche, Michelito's mother who manages the bullfighting ring in Merida. "But this is what he wants to do."

Bullfighting advocates say they have no interest in throwing toddlers in with snarling beasts. Under the rules in Mexico, mini-matadors like Michelito face year-old bulls. More experienced apprentices like Jairo confront 3-year-old bulls, which are far more aggressive.

But the youth of the bullfighters in Mexican rings also involves something else — an effort to reinvigorate a tradition that is drawing smaller audiences of late.

"It used to be the same old matadors for years, and then they began making it more interesting with these young ones," said Jose Martin, a taxi driver and bullfighting fan.