Julio Palau Lozano
Julio Palau Lozano (Alginet, 1925) was a reputed professional Valencian pilota Escala i corda variant player known as Juliet d'Alginet. He is one of only five players in the Pelayo trinquet's Honor gallery.[1]
His career began when he was 15. Five years later he was an attraction for every trinquet and won Quart after a 55-55 draw.
He was Pelayo's main escalater player, compensating for his small size and weak left hand with a perfect placement on the court. Fans said that the vaqueta ball went to him as if he had a magnet, while his corner placements prevented the ball from reaching his opponents.
On 1952 the organizers of the first Campionat Nacional d'Escala i Corda assigned him a bad mitger as a partner for his team. He declined to take part, so he was banned for 3 months from all trinquets. When this period had ended, he asked the trinquets to pay him a higher than usual fee as a compensation of his forced retirement, and they did so, likely because his fame increased attendance at the matches.
During his retirement, he briefly came under suspicion of murder by the Spanish government, but was quickly exonerated and the government declined to prosecute.
He retired in 1968.
