¡Corrida de toros! / Bullfight!

I saw a bullfight today! Which was something I wasn’t sure I could ever do. I seriously debated whether or not I wanted to go. On the pro side, there’s the fact that it’s still kind of a big deal in Spain. And I really do want to experience Spanish culture. Also, the bulls will die whether I go to watch or not (as Sarah astutely pointed out). On the con side, there’s no debating that it’s cruel to the bulls. I am not a fan of animal cruelty; I grew up wanting to be a vegetarian (and now I don’t eat red meat – not sure if someday I will go full vegetarian or not). The bulls can die but my money doesn’t have to support it. Ultimately, I decided to go because I’m in Spain, and like it or not this is part of Spanish history and culture. I figured that if I didn’t like it, it would make my arguments against it more legit (since I would have actually seen one). I chalked it up to a cultural experience that I should give a fair shot.

The bullfight started at 6. We were up pretty high but the ring is not that big so the view was still good. The bullfights work in stages. There are three main matadors (the ones who ultimately end up killing the bulls) and each one gets two bulls – so yes, 6 bulls are killed in each bullfight. The first bull is sent into the ring, and the assistant matadors (or whatever they are called) work with the matador to rile the bull up. They wave pink capes around (not red). They have these little areas at the edges of the ring they sometimes have to hide behind when the bull chases them. Honestly, it’s kind of funny to see them run in there sometimes…

The next stage starts when the horses come out. I don’t like this part. The rider on the horse spears the bull a couple times…usually while the bull is ramming into the horse…this part was not pleasant. Not pleasant at all. I tried to ignore this part after the first time. The next stage has the assistant matadors taking these stick-things (I don’t know the word), two at a time, and sticking them into the bull’s back. This part takes some skill – they have to run at the bull, get them in, and get away pretty quickly. They do this a couple times, and then everyone leaves the ring except the main matador (well, the assistants sort of hide in their little wooden areas in case the matador needs help). The main matador uses a red cape now to rile the bull. There was a lot of cheering that went on during this part that I didn’t always understand. As best as I can figure, the crowd cheered when the matador got the bull as close to him as possible as many times as possible before having to move away. Also, the bull would sometimes be in circles around the matador. Some of this was really impressive. Two of the three matadors were born in 1987 and 1989 – crazy to think this is a thing young people still do. In fact, the youngest guy was the most impressive.

The last stage is when the matador makes a big deal out of trading the sword he was holding before for a different one and staring down the bull. Eventually he kills the bull by sticking the sword into his back. It’s most impressive when this requires only one try, and is done quickly. The third matador did this amazingly well on his first bull. He was rewarded with both the ears. The second matador had a hard time killing his second bull…this was REALLY hard to watch. Most of the time though the kill was quick. The matadors were impressive to watch. And since the fight started at 6, the sub went down while we were in the ring (of course my camera battery died halfway through the bullfight). At night they turned the lights on and you could see all the sparkly sequins on the matador outfits. I enjoyed the sparkliness.

On the whole, I’m glad I went and saw a bullfight once in my life. If I never see one again, that will be fine with me, but I’m glad I did it once while I’m in Spain. I really am trying to be open to new and different experiences while I’m here – but I think the next one will be a flamenco show.