Ernest Hemingway presents the matadors and their way of life as distinct from that of the staff. The matadors are bullfighters who make their living taking risks on a daily basis. This profession attracts thrill-seekers who thrive on adrenaline. They are would-be heroes who revel in the praise of their fans. Paco is captivated by them. Of all the people this young waiter serves in the dining room, “the only ones who really existed were the bullfighters.”

The group that lives at the Pension Luarca, the narrator tells us, are “second-rate” fighters who need an affordable but still respectable address and decent food. As they are far from affluent, they sometimes overstay their welcome, lingering on at the pension “until their last pesetas were gone.” The path from this residence is downhill as the fighters whose reputations are declining; no one can recall that a bullfighter ever moved to a better address. Along with matadors, men who hold two other bullfight positions, picadors and banderilleros, also live there. Many of them live in another city in the off-season and have families. While the fights are going on, however, they all stay at the Luarca. Although their jobs are not as prestigious, they make more money and so are not living as precariously as the matadors.

In the period the story covers, three matadors are living at the Luarca. The narrator describes the three matadors as quite distinct: one was sick, another had his best days behind him, “and the third was a coward.” The coward is jovial and quite stylish, and has given up his former habit of playing practical jokes. The reason for his cowardice is the fear that developed after a bull gored him in the abdomen. The man who is ill tries his best not to let anyone know it. He is so poor that he is selling his spectacular fighting suits; aiming to keep his dignity and privacy, he eats alone in the dining room. The has-been, whose popularity had only been moderate, is serious and dignified; he also eats alone.