After hearing of how the bull is bled, speared, and made to run around the stadium, I was definitely expecting a gruesome, long and gory spectacle. I was pretty convinced that I'd leave after the first bull, despite how my host father told me with great gusto that it was un ballet.
3 Toreros and 6 bulls.
Although we missed the first bull, we entered in time for the second, and situated ourselves in this beautiful stadium.
The modern Spanish corrida de toros (literally: running of the bulls) has three set parts or tercios (thirds).
Tercio de Varas / Third of Lancing:
Initially, when the bull enters the ring, there are toreros who swing their brilliantly pink capes around and cause the bull to charge. This is to allow the other toreros a chance to see it's motion patterns, charging style, and territorial tendencies.
Then, a horseback torero enters the ring, lance in hand. In order to get close enough to spear the bull, it is necessary for the torero to get the bull to attack the horse. Prior to 1930, the horses did not have armor, and therefore bullfights would often result in many a dead horse, organs spilling out in the ring. Nowadays, to prevent this spectacle, the horses are very well padded and protected. The bull charges the horse, and the rider spears it, drawing the first blood in the process of weakening it. There are two white circles drawn on the floor of the ring, which separate the three parts of the process. In the Tercio de Varas, the horse is not allowed to cross the outermost circle.
Here, a particularly fiesty bull (my personal favorite), takes down a horse and it's rider. There was no blood present, but it seemed that it was strong enough a blow that the horse got the wind knocked out of it.
Tercio de Banderillas / Third of Banderillas:
In this step, there are three toreros, each with two banderillas or barbed sticks, with which they run at the bull, jump, and pierce it's neck with. These barbed sticks stay and bounce around, drawing blood each time... Apparently the bull doesn't feel this, but it makes me wince nonetheless. By the end of the bullfight, the bull is usually drenched in its own blood.
Here is one torero walking away after having pierced the bull with the banderillas (the colorful sticks on it's back).
Tercio de Muerte / Third of Death:
This is the part when the actual matador, the one to kill the bull, enters the ring. He is the most elaborately dressed, with un traje de luces (suit of lights), and a red cape with a sword.
Hecho Interesante: Bulls are not actually angered by the color red. It is the movement of the cape that causes them to charge. In fact, the red coloring of the cape is traditionally to hide the blood of the bull...or in some cases of the torero.
By this point, the torero has been able to observe the patterns and tendencies of the bull, and it has also been bled and weakened sufficiently. The torero begins a process of drawing the bull towards him, using the movement of his cape. Apparently one of the signs of a skilled matador is when he can get very close to the bull without getting hurt.
Once the torero thinks that the bull is weak enough, he takes his sword, raises it above his head, and shakes his cape in front of him. Up until this point, the torero never loses eye contact with the bull, and always holds the cape to his sides. However, at this point, the torero must look above the bull's eyes, at it's neck, in order to pierce it in exactly the right spot. This makes this final moment the most dangerous for the torero, as he cannot tell where the bull will go, and may get gored. At this moment, as you can see in the photo below, the torero moves his body slightly to the left and flings his cloak into the eyes of the bull to (hopefully) blind it.
I was surprised at how when the torero finally killed the bull, it was by putting his sword completely in the bull, to the hilt. This fatal blow is meant to spare the bull any pain by severing its spinal cord. However, it may take the bull some time to die. At this point, two assistants come on either side of the bull and weaken by confusing it into charging at both sides, back and forth. Finally, when it falls to its knees, another assistant comes and further pierces the spinal cord with a dagger, repeatedly, causing the bull to jerk, until it finally falls dead.
To be honest, watching the fatal blow was fine, but the last part, seeing the bull weakened and flailing was pretty upsetting.
To be honest, watching the fatal blow was fine, but the last part, seeing the bull weakened and flailing was pretty upsetting.
When the bull finally falls dead, a team of mules drags its body out, leaving a trail of blood following behind... Apparently, if there is a bull that has fought especially valiantly, the residing presidente can order a tour around the ring to honor the bull.
If the torero has made an especially amazing or artful kill, then he is usually awarded by one or both of the bull's ears. This tradition has an interesting history! Nowadays, toreros earn a lot of money and are celebrities of their own right, but in the olden days, they weren't nearly as well-paid. Oftentimes, the best toreros were paid with the bull itself. In order to mark their prize, the torero would lop off an ear for later identification. The tradition continues to today.
In cases when the bull has put up an exceptional fight, the matador has the power to pardon the bull and allow it to live. In these cases, he symbolically takes its ears, and marks this by passing his hand once over its head in a chopping motion. Then, the bull is taken to be healed by a veterinarian and sent off to breed more powerful bulls like himself.
In cases when the bull has put up an exceptional fight, the matador has the power to pardon the bull and allow it to live. In these cases, he symbolically takes its ears, and marks this by passing his hand once over its head in a chopping motion. Then, the bull is taken to be healed by a veterinarian and sent off to breed more powerful bulls like himself.
So, I was expecting a gory spectacle, and after writing this post, I guess it really is a bloody show. However, when at the stadium, it did not feel like this at all. I didn't feel as if I were watching a slow and terrible torture. Instead, I feel that I wasn't disturbed by it because it seemed the toreros all honored and respected the bulls. On each side there is power and danger, and the toreros recognize this. They don't look at the bull as a joke, as something easily killed, but rather a formidable adversary. Also, each bullfight is much shorter than I thought it would be. I thought it would be an agonizing process, but it actually happened to pass much more quickly than expected. When talking to my host father about this beforehand, I smiled nicely at him when he said that it was un ballet, and that I had to look at it from the aesthetic point of view... Now I don't really know what to say. In a lot of ways, I feel like I shouldn't like watching the corrida, but I have to say I really enjoyed myself.
I wasn't always cheering for the matador either. My favorite part was when the feisty bull, who we named Maximus, came out and showed everyone up! He knocked down the horse, threw off the banderillas or avoided them, and generally made a fool of the toreros.
Either way, I'd definitely suggest going to a corrida to anyone who comes to Spain. It's a very different experience to actually go to one than it is to hear about one. I hope you get the chance!
I wasn't always cheering for the matador either. My favorite part was when the feisty bull, who we named Maximus, came out and showed everyone up! He knocked down the horse, threw off the banderillas or avoided them, and generally made a fool of the toreros.
Either way, I'd definitely suggest going to a corrida to anyone who comes to Spain. It's a very different experience to actually go to one than it is to hear about one. I hope you get the chance!
Afterwards: Reflections on the corrida on the way home with Lesly, Ben, Brian and Jared, topped off with a particularly refreshing beer in my neighborhood.
