Bullfighting

Bullfighting in Spain is most definitely one of the best known, and at the same time one of the most polemical Spanish popular customs.

Bull fighting is very closely associated with Spain and can trace its origins back to 711 A.D. This is when the first bullfight took place in celebration for the crowning of King Alfonso VIII. It is very popular in Spain with several thousand Spaniards flocking to their local bull-ring each week. It is said that the total number of people watching bullfights in Spain reaches one million every year.

This Fiesta would not exist without the Toro Bravo, a species of bull of an archaical race that is only conserved in Spain. Many civilizations respected them, the bull-cultus at the Greek island Creta is quite well known. The Bible reports on sacrifices of bulls in admiration to the divine justice. Also in the religious ceremonies of Iberian tribes living in Spain in prehistorical times, bulls played a prominent part.

The origins of the bullring, probably are not the Roman amphitheaters but the Celt-Iberian temples where those ceremonies were held. In the province of Soria, close to Numancia, one of them is conserved and it is said that their bulls were sacrificed to the Gods.

While the religious cultus to the bull goes way back to Iberians, it was the Greek and Roman influences that transformed it into a show for all to see.

During the middle-ages it was a diversion for the aristocracy to rear on horse's back. That was called suerte de cañas. In the 18th century this custom was more or less abandoned and the poorer population invented the bullfight by foot. Francisco Romero was a key-figure in laying the rules for that new sport.

For its fans La Corrida is of course rather an art than a sport, not to speak about the challenge of the man fighting against the beast. It is an archaic tradition that has survived in this country, just as the Toro Bravo has done.

Corridas

If you are not familiar to Corridas, you will find here listed chronologically everything that happens. So you may decide by yourself if you want to see one when you are visiting Spain.

A Corrida starts with the paseillo, with everybody involved in the bullfight entering the ring and presenting himself to the public. Two Alguacilillos, on horse's back, direct themselves to the presidency and symbolically ask for the keys to the "puerta de los toriles". Behind that door there are the bulls.

With the door being opened and the first bull entering the ring the spectacle starts. It consists of three parts, called tercios, being separated by horn-signals. There are three toreros in each Corrida, by the way, and each will have to torear two bulls.

In the first tercio the bullfighter uses the capote, a quite large rag of purple and yellow color. Now enter two picadores, on horse's back and armed with a sort of lance.

The second part is la suerte de banderillas. Three banderilleros have to stick a pair of banderillas into the attacking bull's back.

In the final "suerte suprema" the bullfighter uses the muleta, a small red rag. He has to show his faena, his masterity to dominate the bull, and to establish an artistical symbiosis between man and beast. The Corrida ends with the torero killing the bull by his sword.

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