The era was cut short when Joselito was fatally gored on 16 May 1920, at the age of 25,[2] at a bullfight in Talavera de la Reina, a small town not far from Madrid.

The Mexican matador Carlos Arruza fought 108 corridas in one season but it is said that he refused to pass Belmonte's record out of respect for the maestro.

After his third and final retirement in 1935,[4] Belmonte moved to a 3,500-acre (1400 ha) ranch in Andalusia, where he "lived the life of a gentleman bull-breeder".

Written by Manuel Chaves Nogales and published in 1937, it was called Juan Belmonte, matador de toros: su vida y sus hazañas (Juan Belmonte, killer of bulls: his life and deeds) and consisted of his story as told to Nogales.

Born with slightly deformed legs, he could not run or jump like other boys[3] and so when he finally began his career as a matador, he firmly planted his feet on the ground, never giving way.

[3] After a final morning ride, he returned home to his ranch house, took his 6.35mm[3] pistol from a drawer in his study and shot himself.

A popular version, seen for example in Life,[7] describes events substantially as follows: when Belmonte's doctor told him that, because of his lifelong injuries and trauma, he could no longer smoke cigars, ride his horses, drink wine or perform sexual acts with women, he decided he was ready to die.

At the time of Belmonte's death, Catholic rules prescribed against suicide victims' being buried in consecrated ground.

Belmonte appears as a character in Woody Allen's 2011 film Midnight in Paris as a friend of Ernest Hemingway, who considers him to be "truly brave".