The national sport in Spain, also popular in some regions of S France, and in Latin-American countries. Known as the corrida de toros (Span running of the bulls) it is regarded as an art in Spain. Leading bullfighters (matadors) are treated as national heroes. Picadors are sent into the bull-ring to weaken the bull before the matador enters the arena to make the final killing. It is perhaps misnamed as a fight because of its one-sidedness.
Bullfighting or tauromachy (Spanish toreo, corrida de toros or tauromaquia; Portuguese tourada, corrida de touros or tauromaquia) is a tradition that involves, most of the time, professional performers (generally called in Spanish toreros or matadores and in Portuguese toureiros) who execute various formal moves with the goal of appearing graceful and confident, while masterful over the bull itself; these maneuvers are performed at close range, concluding (in Spanish-style bullfighting) with the death of the bull by a well-placed sword thrust as the finale;
The practice generates heated controversy in many areas of the world, including Spain where the "classic" bullfighting was born.
Origins
Bullfighting may trace its roots to Minoan Crete, where the bull-leaping ritual practiced by youths of both sexes is memorialized in the famous wall-frescos at Knossos. The wall murals show male and female acrobats confronting the bull, grabbing its horns as it charges towards them, and vaulting themselves over its back. This is known as "bull leaping". However, the frescos offer no hint of struggle or violence, and the Lunar Bull was a sacred animal commemorated in ritual and legends such as that of the Minotaur. Modern archaeologists tend to emphasize the danger involved in this athletic skill and may underestimate the extent to which the bull cooperated. The killing of the sacred bull (tauromachy) is the essential central iconic act of Mithras, which was commemorated in the mithraeum wherever Roman soldiers were stationed.
Bullfighting is often linked to ancient Rome, when many human-versus-animal events were held as a warm-up for gladiatorial sports. In its original Moorish and early Iberian form, the bull was fought from horseback using a javelin. (Picadors are the remnants of this tradition, but their role in the contest is now a relatively minor one limited to "preparing" the bull for the matador.) Bullfighting spread from Spain to its Central and South American colonies, and also in the 19th century to France, where it developed into a distinctive form in its own right.
Another belief is that bullfighting as is in present times has its roots based largely in wars that occurred between Iberians and Moors. As history has it, a common war strategy of the Moors was to set fire to the tails of bulls which would cause the herd to stampede into opposing armies in a frenzy. According to this theory, what we see today in modern bullfighting: swords, horses, Spanish style, muletas, facing the bull without weapons as is seen in Portugal's forcados, etc., was born from the necessity of survival in battles against the Moors.
French ethnologist Dominique Aubier considers according to an epistemological study that there is no relationship between the Spanish bullfight and either Greek sacrifice (a ritualistic agricultural celebration) or Roman Gladiators. The modern style of Spanish bullfighting is credited to Juan Belmonte, generally considered the greatest matador of all time, who introduced a daring and revolutionary style which kept him almost constantly within a few inches of the bull. As bullfighting developed, men on foot started using capes to aide the horsemen in positioning the bulls. Today, bullfighting is still similar to the way it was in 1726, when Francisco Romero, from Ronda, Spain, used the estoque, a sword to kill the bull, and the muleta, which is a small cape that is used in the last part of the fight.
Styles of bullfighting
Originally, there were at least five distinct regional styles of bullfighting practiced in southwestern Europe: Andalucia, Aragon-Navarre, Alentejo, Camargue, Aquitaine. The "classic" style of bullfighting which comes to most peoples' minds, where the bull is killed, is the form practiced in Spain and many Latin American countries.
Spanish
Spanish-style bullfighting is called a corrida de toros. (literally a "running of bulls", the name being derived from the past participle of the Spanish verb correr, "to run", meaning however "bull's run"). In a traditional corrida, three toreros, also called matadores or, in French, toreadores, each fight two out of a total of six bulls, each of which is at least four years old and weighs up to about 600 kg (with a minimum weight limit of 460 kg for the bullrings of the first degree). There are also the areneros (arena personnel): Alguacilillo (there are two men of this title who represent the presiding dignitary on the ground and apply his orders) and a number of servants named monosabios (they are in charge of the ring after each individual fight but their most active participation is when they help the picador and his mount on foot) and mulilleros (they lead the set of mules that drags out the bull's body after the corrida).
Next, the bull enters the ring to be tested for ferocity by the matador and banderilleros with pink and gold capes. Bulls are raised by specialist breeding estates called ganaderías. Each bull is recorded delicately with its name, weight, and age to profile the estates. The bull enters the arena with a rosette on its back bearing the colours of the estate it belongs to. Estate owner is represented by a mayoral and if their bulls display an exceptional performance, in the end, he will be invited to share a lap around the ring with toreros.
In the first stage, the tercio de varas ("Lances third"), the behavior of the bull is observed by the matador by the way the bull behaves in the arena and how he attacks the capes, when banderilleros play with the bull with their capes. The matador is particularly interested to know which horn the bull prefers to use, whether the bull charges in straight or curved lines and whether or not the bull has eyesight problems (poor vision in one eye, for example, could result in unusual head movements). The bull is encouraged to attack the horse which is protected by its padding and generally treats the attack with stoic patience. The way the bull charges the horse provides further important clues to the matador on its bravery and persistence. The picador stabs a mound of muscle on the bull's neck, leading to the animal's first loss of blood. If the picador does his job well, the bull will hold its head and horns lower during the following stages of the fight. More importantly, this tempering of the bull's strength allows the human to take on substantially more risk.
It is the first major test of the bull's bravery, and even more importantly, most bulls' behaviour changes dramatically (for better or worse) after the lance.
In the next stage, the tercio de banderillas ("banderillas third"), the three banderilleros each attempt to plant two coloured, harpoon-pointed sticks (banderillas, literally "little flags") on the bull's flanks. These further weaken the enormous ridges of neck and shoulder muscle, which set fighting bulls apart from ordinary cattle, through loss of blood, while also frequently spurring the bull into making more ferocious charges. The placing of the banderillas is also the last chance to correct or fine tune the charging tendencies of the bull. If the bull proves to be extraordinarily weak or unwilling to fight, the presidente may order, to the disgrace of the breeder, the use of black banderillas.
In the final stage, the tercio de muerte ("death third"), the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape or muleta in one hand and a sword in the other. Having dedicated the bull to an individual or the whole audience, he uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes, both demonstrating his control over it and risking his life by getting especially close to it. The red colour of the cape is a matter of tradition, as bulls are actually colour blind. The faena ends with a final series of passes in which the matador with a muleta attempts to manoeuvre the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the heart. If estocada is not successful the matador must then perform a descabello and cut the bull's spinal cord with a second sword called verdugo, to kill it instantly and spare the animal pain. Although the matador's final blow is usually fatal, it may take the bull some time to die. The matador must kill the bull in fifteen minutes after the first muleta pass, at most. After ten minutes, if the bull is still alive, the presidente will order an aviso, a warning given with a trumpet sound, followed by a second after further three minutes and a following third after further two. The presidente will then give an order to have the bull returned to its pen (corral).
The bull's body is dragged out by a set of galloping mules. If the presidente is impressed by the performance of the bull, he orders a tour around the ring to honour the animal. Very rarely, a bull will be allowed to survive a fight as an indulgence granted in recognition of an exceptional performance. If he stands still, he will resume his action and kill the bull. But if he has an orange handkerchief hung on his balcony, the matador will imitate the estocada with a banderilla or with the palm of his hand and the bull will be "freed". Such bulls are generally retired from competition and raised as studs, as their experience in the ring makes them extremely dangerous opponents. If more than or about half the spectators petition the presidente by waving handkerchiefs, the presidente is obliged to award the matador with one ear of the bull.
Although most of the fights take the form described above, there are bullfights that have distinctive properties;
Mano-a-mano corridas are bullfights where two matadores fight three bulls each in competition. Novilladas are bullfights where younger bulls of two to four years of age (novillos) and apprentice toreros (novilleros) are involved. The bulls used for a festival are the ones that have the tips of their horns severed.Other lesser spectacles
Professional
The rejoneo or corrida de rejones — A rider on horseback (a rejoneador (lancer)) tries to stab javelins called rejones de castigo in the first stage and banderillas in the second. In the final stage, kills the bull with a lance called rejón de muerte, also in some occasions, the rejoneador will kill the bull on foot by the traditional way with muleta and estoca. The recortadores — Where a bullfighter dodges around the bull and does not use a cape or sword . Bulls are not killed during this type of bullfight. Comedy spectacles, such as El bombero torero y los enanitos toreros ("The bullfighting fireman and the bullfighting dwarfs").Amateur
The encierro — A "running" of the bulls through the streets. Customarily, runners run before the bulls to guide them from the pen to the plaza, where the bulls will await the afternoon's bullfight. In Segorbe, bulls are herded to the bullring by riders on horseback, an event called Entrada de toros y caballos, which is a tourist attraction. A bull is carried to an open terrain by the river. This is also practiced in Pamplona after the traditional running of the bulls. Another variation is the nightly toro de fuego ("fire bull"). Balls of flammable material are placed on the horns, frightening the bull. Nowadays the bull is often substituted by a runner carrying a chassis on which fireworks are lit.Before the diffusion of modern sports premises, bull rings were used in the Basque Country for challenges of resistance running. No bulls were involved.
Portuguese
The Portuguese now practice a type of bullfighting which is in many respects different from its original form. Portuguese corrida de touros has four main figures:
Cavaleiro - A horseman (rider), dressed in traditional 18th century costumes fights the bull from horseback. The purpose of this fight is to stab three or four bandarilhas (small javelins) in the back of the bull. Forcados - The forcados are a group of eight men who challenge the bull directly, without any protection or weapon of defense. The front man provokes the bull into a charge to perform a pega de cara or pega de caras (face catch). Matadores - Same as the Spanish matadores, but they do not kill the bull in the end. In Portugal, the main stars of bullfighting are the cavaleiros, as opposed to Spain, where the matadores are the most prominent bullfighters. Nevertheless, bullfights with matadores are also frequent, notably with Portuguese matadores who practice their trade in Spain and who, when in Portugal, replace the sword in their final strike with a bandarilha.The bull is not killed in the ring and, at the end of the corrida, leading oxen are let into the arena and two campinos on foot herd the bull along them back to its pen. The bull is usually killed, away from the audience's sight, by a professional butcher. It can happen that some bulls, after an exceptional performance, are healed, released to pasture until their end days and used for breeding. Nevertheless, tradition was so strong at the small frontier town of Barrancos, where the bull was illegally put to death in the arena, that the government was forced to relent and permit the town to follow its ancient matador tradition and kill the bull in the arena.
In Portugal, some bulls have their horns severed and covered in a way that they do not present sharp points. The son and heir of the Marquis of Marialva was fighting a bull on horseback when the animal wounded his horse. The young man fell, was kicked by the bull and killed.
There are many forms of traditional, popular bullfighting in Portugal, differing from the "official" version, some of which involve groups of people doing a tug-of-war with young bulls, by holding large wooden structures into which the animals charge. In the Azores, bullfighting is often remniscent of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, in which those most at risk are human beings, not the bulls themselves.
Bullfights are not accepted in some parts of Portuguese society, as it is in some parts of Spanish society, and to that extent, has seen a decline in the number of spectators in those sectors. Among France's most important venues for bullfighting are the ancient Roman arenas of Nîmes and Arles, although there are bull rings across the South from the Mediterrannean to the Atlantic coasts. This is a bloodless spectacle (for the bulls) in which the objective is to snatch a rosette from the head of a young bull.
Cultural aspects of bullfighting
Many supporters of bullfighting regard it as a deeply ingrained integral part of their national cultures. The aesthetic of bullfighting is based on the interaction of the man and the bull. Rather than a competitive sport, the bullfight is more of a ritual which is judged by afficionados (bullfighting fans) based on artistic impression and command.
The bullfight is above all about the demonstration of style and courage by its participants. While there is usually no doubt about the outcome, the bull is not viewed as a sacrificial victim — it is instead seen by the audience as a worthy contestant, deserving of respect in its own right. Bulls learn fast and their capacity to do so should never be underestimated. Indeed, a bullfight may be viewed as a race against time for the matador who must display his bullfighting skills before the animal "understands" what is going on and begins to thrust its horns at something other than the cape. If a matador is particularly poor, the audience may shift its support to the bull and cheer it on instead.
The audience looks for the matador to display an appropriate level of style and courage, and for the bull to display aggression and determination. For the matador, this means performing skillfully in front of the bull, often turning his back on it to demonstrate his mastery over the animal.
The moment when the matador kills the bull is the most dangerous point of the entire fight, as it requires him to reach between the horns, head on, to deliver the blow. Many bullfighters have met their deaths on the horns of a bull, including one of the most celebrated of all time, Manolete, who was killed by a bull named Islero, raised by Miura, and Paquirri who was killed by the bull named Avispado. Occasionally, if the bull has done particularly well, it will get the same treatment as its body is towed out of the ring (although an even greater honor is for the bull to be allowed to survive due to an exceptional performance). The successful matador will be presented with colours to mark his victory and will often also receive one or two severed ears, and even the tail of the bull depending on the quality of his performance.
Bullfighting is traditionally a male sport.
Bullfighting is seen as a symbol of Spanish character.
Criticisms of bullfighting
Bullfighting has for many years been a controversial activity; Some also believe that the bull suffers severe stress or a slow, painful death. Bullfighting in Barcelona continues to this day Bullfighting has been banned in the Canary Islands, but cockfighting is still legal.
English-speaking critics often confuse the tauromachy with the coarse entertainment of "bull-baiting" formerly popular in Britain, in which packs of specially-bred bulldogs were loosed upon a bull confined within a ring or even tethered to a stake. Some claim that the highest form of "Airs above Ground" (a component of the most famous form of Lippizan horse training) at one time was bullfighting, to use all the high precision movements learnt in the school to evade the bull and have its rider spear it was deemed the most dangerous and difficult move of all. Abuses to the bull that make it less apt to fight are regarded by many afficionados as scandalous, but abuses that make it more apt to fight are not regarded in such a fashion. Bull breeders invest their money in raising bulls and their financial stability depends on their bull's performance. If bulls are mistreated it will be obvious to the audience, and the bull's behavior in the ring will be compromised: it will be weaker, more distractible, etc. The bull's attitude is essential for the bullfight to play out as it is supposed to. Breeders work with the event organizers that use their bulls, and they are the first to complain if they notice the bull has been harmed in any way prior to the bullfight in a way that might damage the bull's entertainment value. A torista concentrates on the fighting abilities, courage, and stamina of each bull. If an expert torista spots a bull obviously weakened or mistreated before the fight, this will give a bad reputation for not only the breeder but also for all people in charge of the corrida.
Opponents of bullfighting have responded that the "cleanness" of the kill or the general treatment of the animal prior to the event is irrelevant;
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