Bullfighting is one of the most traditional feasts in Spain. Spanish people consider this event an art form showing their history and culture. To show the importance of this feast in Spain, we need to mention there was a time that some groups tried to ban bullfighting; in return, the King of Spain announced that “the day the European Union bans bullfighting is the day Spain leaves the European Union.”
What is bullfighting?
In Spanish Bullfighting, is corrida de toros, which means “running of bulls”. They use a round arena called Plaza de Toros to hold this event. Every major and important city in Spain has a Plaza de Toros. In this article, we will introduce the most well-known of these.
In the Spanish traditional way, three toreros each have to fight two bulls and ultimately kill them. So, in total, you will see six fights. The turn is based on seniority. The senior one, which is the oldest, will fight in the first and fourth fights, the second oldest will participate in the second and fifth fights, and the youngest with the least experience will fight with the third and fourth bulls. If a matador got injured and couldn’t continue, the senior matador must replace him and complete the fight.
Types of bullfighting
In total there is two types of Bullfighting corrida a pie (on foot) & corrida de rejones
Corrida a pie is the most common way of
Bullfighting in which the matador fights face-to-face with the bull in Plaza de Toros. Following is the option you have for this kind of bullfight:
- A corrida de toros, in this type of fight, professional bullfighters will face 4 to 5-year-old bulls.
- A novillada with picador, in which semi-professional bullfighters fight with 3 to 4-year-old bulls.
- A novillada without picador, in which semi-professional bullfighters perform with 2 to 3-year-old bulls without using picador.
In Spanish-style bullfight, a picador is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the tercio de varas, which we will explain later.
There is also corrida de rejones. In this fighting style, the matador fights the bull on horseback. The significant difference between these two is the way they fight and their clothes.
Bullfighting stages
In modern Spanish-style Bullfighting, there is a total of three parts which calls tercios. They use a trumpet sound to announce the start and end of each of them. The duration of each stage is around 8-10 minutes. The matador is the person in charge of asking for a change of tercio, and he must respect the timings, or the president will warn him.
Stage 1: Tercio de Varas
The first stage is tercio de varas. In Spanish bullfighting, the tercio de varas start when the president uses his white handkerchief to give a signal to the picador to enter. First, the matador observes the bull and how it reacts to the waving of the banderilleros’ cloak. They also note each movement and specific reactions such as its vision, any unusual head movements, or if the bull favors any part of the ring called a querencia.
The primary attack by the thaymatador is called the suerte de capote. The matador tries to provoke the bull to attack and run after the galloping horse. Then he or she stabs one or two rejones de castigo (punishment of lances) into the bull’s back. As with the jabs of a standard corrida, the rejones de castigo weaken the bull with this method, so this blood loss allows a less dangerous confrontation between the rejoneador and the bull.
Stage 2: Tercio de Banderillas
In the next stage, the matador attempts to plant two banderillas (“little flags”) which are barbed or dart-like sticks, onto the bull’s shoulders. These attacks weaken the ridges of neck and shoulder muscles through loss of blood, while also spurring the bull into making more aggressive charges.
At this point, the bull had lost a significant amount of blood, which exhausted the animal. Then the matador enters with his cape and sword, attempting to tire the bull more with several runs at the cape. The matadors put those banderillas around the bull. If the presidente considers that the bull is too weak or unwilling to fight, they may order the use of black banderillas, which is considered a poor reflection on the breeder.
Stage 3: Tercio de Muerte
In this stage, the matador uses his red cape to attract the bull in a couple of passes, to show their control over it. The red color of the cape is a matter of tradition; although bulls are color-blind, the color only has the purpose of masking blood stains. The fight ends with a couple of passes in which the matador attempts to maneuver the bull to a suitable position so he can stab the bull between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart.
Bullfighting Arenas
1. Madrid’s Bullring
La Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas is the most important bullring in the world, which was built in 1929 and was first used in 1931. The capacity of this Bullring is 25,000. During the world-renowned San Isidro Bullfighting Festival which is held in June, all seats will be taken every evening.
2. Seville Bullring
Maestranza Bullring in Seville was built in 1758, which makes it Spain’s oldest Plaza de Toros. The origin of modern bullfighting on foot is here, and Ronda. It is one of the most fascinating bullrings in Spain, and even if its capacity is just 12,500, the top bullfighters attract to it. You can watch bullfights in Seville from April through to October, which is during Seville’s Feria de Abril. But you need to check the bullfight calendar as they don’t occur every weekend.
3. Ronda Bullring
The Ronda bullring was built in 1785. Previously it had been used as Philip II’s center for horsemanship training. In this training, bulls were also used, and one day when an aristocrat fell from his horse Francisco Romero came to his help by using his hat to distract the bull. After that, the hat was replaced by a cape, and modern-day bullfighting was born.
Years after that, Romero’s grandson, Pedro Romero, developed all the passes and movements, which to this day are seen at a bullfight. When he was in his eighties, even though he never got hurt, he retired after killing more than 5,600 bulls. Due to this reason, Ronda is considered the home of bullfighting. You can always visit the Bullring in Ronda, which has a small bullfighting museum.
Bullfighting Tickets
Bullfight ticket prices are different according to their position in the bullfighting arena. The seats in the shade are more expensive than the seats in the sun. Seats located closer to the bullfight are also more expensive. So, ones near So the seats near the ringside barrier, which are in the shade, are the most expensive.
Bullfighting Festivals in Spain
There is a bullfighting festival calendar that includes the most important bullfighting events in Spain. This can help you plan your travel according to the dates of different events. In general, bullfighting festivals or corridas are organized during the bullfighting season, that is in Europe, mainly in Spain, Portugal, and France. It extends from late March to early October. During these bullfighting festivals, there are bullfights almost every day and usually last between 3 days to 2 weeks.
Conclusion
Bullfighting is one of the most traditional feasts in Spain. If you have plans to travel to Spain, you can plan your trip accordingly to join one of their festivals. You can book a ticket to see a bullfight in one of Spain’s most important and historical Bullfighting Arenas.
Bullfighting has three general stages, the first is Tercio de Varas, the second is Tercio de Banderillas, and the last one is Tercio de Muerte.