People

By Guy D. Garcia

The weather at Madrid's Las Ventas bullring was as cold as a kiss of steel, but that did not stop Julio Iglesias and 25,000 others from braving the rain for a chance to see Manuel ("El Cordobes") Benitez. The legendary torero, loved by fans and hated by purists for his cocky, idiosyncratic style, had not performed in public for six years. The occasion was a charity bullfight for victims of last year's volcano disaster in Colombia, and in truth it was not a good day for Benitez, 51. Moments into his fight he was interrupted by a young man, claiming to be his illegitimate son, who leaped into the ring and had to be arrested. Worse, on resuming, El Cordobes did not fight well, and he killed badly. But another of Spain's great retired matadors, Antonio ("Antonete") Chenel, 54, thrilled the crowd with a memorable performance, and more than $500,000 was raised.