My First (and Last) Bullfight

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon when my friends and I met for drinks before the bullfight. As it got closer to the start time, we noticed many people walking in the direction of the Plaza de Toros and decided to join the crowd. To my surprise, those in attendance were dressed very elegantly. Men were wearing dress pants and nice shirts with suit jackets, and women were dressed in cocktail dresses and heals. As we found our seats, the crowd was settling in, many holding a cigar in one hand and a beer in the other. The show started off with a march of some sort in the ring and matadors waving to the crowd. A trumpet played a catchy tune during various parts of the show. It was quite a beautiful scene, with many colors and elegant clothes. Soon after that, the ring was cleared and a bull charged of the gate. The matador’s assistants, with pink/purple flags, engaged with the bull. Following that, two men on horseback were released into the ring with long javelins in their hands. The crowd chanted “fuera” during these times. The men on horseback stabbed the bull, I’m assuming to anger him. After that, other men with two swords in their hands charged the bull, sticking the swords in the bull’s shoulders three times. For the remainder of the match, the bull kept those swords in his body. Finally, the head matador came out with the red flag and engaged with the bull. The crowd was completely silent during these times, except when chanting in unison for reasons I do not know of due to my lack of knowledge about the sport. The bull would charge at the red flag, and upon each charge, the crowd yelled “olé;” after an X amount of consecutive charges, the crowd would cheer loudly, and sometimes wave white scarves in the air. There was a total of six matches, each one lasting around 20 minutes, and each match used a new bull. At the end of each match the bull fell to the ground and the matador killed the bull (I closed my eyes during this part so I cannot provide a detailed description). Once the bull is dead, the team brings out three horses and dragged the bull around the ring to show the crowd, before taking it out of the public's eye. Within a few minutes, the ring was cleaned and another match began.

I do not regret my decision to attend this event. Although I will not attend it again, it taught me about the Spanish culture in this specific aspect. I have never been a “crazy” animal lover, but I am definitly against animal cruelty. I do not think that all Spaniards support bullfighting, nor do I believe it is a vital aspect of the Spanish culture. In fact, there was a protest right outside the Plaza de Toros for animal rights before the event started. While I am sad about the outcome of the sport, it was somewhat comforting to learn that the bull’s meat is purchased by butchers and restaurants for sale.