THE “MONTERA”

The Montera is the element with which the bullfighters cover their heads during the first two thirds of the bullfight. Just before taking the cape and starting the fight, the bullfighter gives the Montera to the person to whom he wants to offer the bull’s death. If he offers it to the public he will throw the Montera to the arena, usually backwards, and if there is no offering he will be picked up by one of his assistants.
The Montera was introduced by Francisco Montes (Paquiro) around 1835.
An interesting theory about the origin of the Montera is that it had a double essential function: Firstly, to emphasize the feminine aspects of the bullfighter in the first part of his fight. Therefore the Montera would be a sort of wig to highlight the femininity and delicacy of the human fighter. And secondly, it was a kind of disguise by which the bullfighter identifies himself with the bull. Nowadays the Monteras are usually made of astrakhan, but they were formerly made of black lambskin. At the time of the opening of the gate, the bullfighters seem to be an emerging human cattle and, when they walk in the arena during the opening procession ( El Paseillo) they look like a herd.