La Corrida de Toros (Bullfight)

---

So I've been to Spain a lot, but I've never seen a bullfight. As a matter of fact, neither have most of my Spanish friends. The majority of young people here don't believe its right. I completely understand why, however, after witnessing it myself, I think the cultural importance of it outweighs the cruelty to the bull. You are free to disagree with me on that one though.

A bullfight, or corrida de toros (which more accurately translates into running of the bulls) consists of 6 different individual bullfights. There are 3 matadors (or toreros in Spanish) and each fights 2 bulls, one at a time of course. So its more like you go and watch 6 different bullfights.

Each bullfight is broken into thirds. In the first, or the Tercio de Varas, the bull enters the ring and is enticed by picadors with big pink flags. This allows the matador to get to know the bull. Then Picadores come out. These are men on horseback with large lances. The horses where padding and are blindfolded so they don't move. The bull then is persueded to attack the horse. The picador stabs the bull in the neck and back muscles to weaken it. The horse is sometimes lifted off the ground by the bull. The picador usually stabs the bull 2 times, then a trumpet sounds to mark the end of the first third.

In the second third, or Tercio de Bandillera, bandilleros come out. These are men holding 2 decorated sticks with barbs on the end. They taunt the bull from far away until the bull charges at full speed toward them. Then they leap into the air at just the right moment, stab the sticks into the neck of the bull and run away. They have to leap to the side of the bull so they don't get mauled by their horns. There are 3 bandilleros and by the end the bull has 6 sticks hanging from its back.

In the last part, or Tercio de Muerte, the matador comes out and does his little dance with the bull. The object is to get the bull to pass as close as possible and to get him to go around the matador as many times as possible in 1 turn without stopping. If he does it well, the audience first yells BIEN BIEN (or well done) and then if he's REALLY great, they yell OLE. The final act of the matador is to kill the bull using a long, thin sword. He has to stab the bull through the center of his shoulders and through his heart. This is VERY difficult. Out of 6 bullfights we saw, only 2 were clean kills. If he does not succeed, he tries again and again until ultimately, he takes a special sword and breaks the bulls neck instantly.

At the end of the bullfight, if everything went really well, the crowd waves a white napkin to signal the president of the bullfight to award the matador an ear of the bull. If he was EXTRAORDINARY, he should be awarded the ear and the tail, but this rarely happens.

The magic of the bullfight to me was its uniqueness and its otherworldliness. I felt transferred to another era completely, one of honor and tradition, where it is man against beast, no technology, no hustle and bustle, money, work, future. You watch men risk their lives in the name of courage and honor, and you get a say into how they are awarded. There is NOTHING like it in the US. Of the 6 individual bullfights I saw, only 1 matador was awarded an ear. To understand the difficulty and the courage it takes to earn this, you will have to see one for yourself.

---

Photos

First Third: Tercio de Varas
Here the picador stabs the bull with a long lance to weaken its neck muscles.

Second Third: Tercio de Banderilla
The Banderillero taunts the bull to charge and leaps in the air to stab the bull with 2 decorated bandilleras.

Third Third: Tercio de Muerte
The Matador battles the bull in a test of courage.

DEATH!!
The matador must make a clean kill to finish the bullfight.

Wave the white flag!!
For a job well done, give the Matador an ear!

THANK YOU!!!
The matador, after being awarded the ear, thanks the crowd. The crowd throws flowers and gifts. LOOK at his stained clothes!!! His ¨Suit of lights¨ costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and it can´t be dry cleaned!!!