[5] Manzanares donned the suit of lights – this one in white and silver[6] – for the first time in Andújar in 1969, facing together with Nelson Vilegas yearling bulls bearing the Francisco Sánchez brand.

[5] He had fought at 15 such engagements[5] before he made his début with picadores on 24 May 1970 in Benidorm,[7] alternating with Curro Fuentes and José Luis Ortuño against yearlings supplied by the Sánchez Arjona ranch.

[6][5] Manzanares took his alternativa at Alicante on 24 June 1971 (Saint John's Day[6]), with Luis Miguel Dominguín standing as his "godfather" and Santiago Martín "El Viti" as the witness.

[5][7] Thereafter, Manzanares's long career as a matador was marked by highs and lows, from his great triumphs in Madrid in the late 1970s when he was always at the top of the escalafón taurino (bullfighters' rankings) until he announced what would turn out to a short retirement in 1989.

[7][8] Manzanares's apoderados (agents/managers) were the brothers Lozano and Paco Dorado, and the businessmen Simón Casas and Enrique Patón.

[12] Manzanares died at the age of 61 of natural causes at his bull-raising farm, Cerro Teresa, in Campo Lugar, Cáceres on 28 October 2014.