If you were lucky enough to be in Madrid last week you could have seen the Las Ventas bullring in a way few have seen before, under snow. Hopefully the snow melts soon, 6 novillos from the Fuente Ymbro ranch will open up the Spanish season at Las Ventas on Sunday March 13th.
Bos Taurus Ibericus The bulls themselves are the most most important part of the bullfight. There is a saying, "si se cae el toro se cae la fiesta." Meaning that if the bull fails, the fiesta fails. Its the main reason I started to study the bullfight, just because I was fascinated by them. In Barnaby Conrad's Encyclopedia of Bullfighting, he describes them as, "one of the most blindly brave animals in the world. Faster, for a short distance, than a race horse, he can turn more rapidly than a polo pony and can leap a barrera fence with ease.....Although fighting bulls are raised in Mexico, South America, and France, their bloodlines always trace back to the Iberian Peninsula where the first of the breed originated." Here are some examples I've come across of some amazing looking bulls. There is a butcher on site at the bullring who immediately after the bull is killed receives the animal, prepares it and takes it to market where it is sold the same day. I've heard it is very lean meat, alot like bison and can be considered prized meat and therefore alittle expensive. Many will find the bullfight cruel, especially if the bulls are seen as majestic animals. Many will argue though that if there were no bullfights that this breed of bovine would have gone extinct long ago. Ranchers would have replaced them by now with a more tranquil and more meat producing breed. Plus Spaniards and other aficionados see the bullfight as a brave way for this noble animal to die as opposed to being herded into some slaughterhouse.
Seville Bullfights are held in several countries including Spain, France, Portugal, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. Even here in the USA you can see a version known as a Bloodless Bullfight held in parts of California (last year there were more than 20.) But no matter where you go, Seville Spain is regarded as the place where you can find the bullfight in its most pure form and with the most knowledgable aficionados. It is known as "the Cradle of the Bullfight" and its Real Maestranza bullring is a work of art. It was designed in 1761 and constructed over many years and over many phases but the final product is a cathedral to la corrida. www.realmaestranza.com
Re: The art of the Bullfight. How old is the tradition of bull fighting in Spain? Where did it originate?
Re: The art of the Bullfight. I attended a bullfight in Juarez, Mexico, while I was living in El Paso, Texas. It's part of their culture; we were there to observe and have a day out. Strangely, I was the only one who had beef for dinner at the local restaurante that night!
Re: The art of the Bullfight. Oh, la memoria de la Maestranza. Echo de menos los sabados con las corridas. I will say, if anybody in this forum ever has the chance to visit Sevilla, it is more than worth it. It is the most fascinating city in the world, and the culture is so alive, you can physically feel it as you walk through the streets. La marcha en Sevilla (going out) is an experience in itself. Too bad el botellon had to be legislated against. But, in typical Sevillano fashion, they are still fighting the law. Oh yeah, the beef...I had some at one of Sevilla's finest after one of the fights...WOW. I believe that the oldest bullring is in Ronda.
Ronda Spain I'll have to dig into my info and try to write up alittle report on how old the tradition is and how it began. The birthplace of the modern bullfight as we know it though is Ronda Spain and as Wingtips1 said, Ronda does have the oldest bullring which dates back to the mid 1700's. A couple pictures of Ronda.
Re: The art of the Bullfight. We took a tour of "Plaza del Toros" in Sevilla last September. There were no bullfights going on but the place was amazing. The guide directed our attention to the heads of a bull and a cow mounted on the wall. The bull killed a matador in the 1920's or 30's and permission was received to find its mothers and kill her so she would never bring another horrible spawn into the world again. Saw a fight on T.V. whilst in Tarifa. Not sure if I could stomach one live.
Re: Ronda Spain Not to hijack a thread, but if anyone is considering visiting Spain, you must visit Ronda. The gorge took my breath away.
Re: Ronda Spain The gorge is amazing. Unfortunately, when people visit Spain they don't have enough time to do everything, so they visit Barca/Madrid/Sevilla and maybe Marbella o Malaga. But another great little stop is Aracena. It is northwest of Sevilla, about 1.5 hr bus ride. Las cuevas there have been used in two or three films, as well as having a great alcazar that sits on top of the hill on the outskirts of the town.
Re: Ronda Spain The gorge is amazing. Unfortunately, when people visit Spain they don't have enough time to do everything, so they visit Barca/Madrid/Sevilla and maybe Marbella o Malaga. But another great little stop is Aracena. It is northwest of Sevilla, about 1.5 hr bus ride. Las cuevas there have been used in two or three films, as well as having a great alcazar that sits on top of the hill on the outskirts of the town. And as for a fight live, DO IT!!! Make sure you pay enough for the good seats in la oscura where the majority of the fight will take place. You'll be able to see the sword pierce the body of the bull and watch the blood spew from his mouth and open wound. It is quite a treat.
Re: The art of the Bullfight. Sevilla is my favorite city in Spain. A friend of mine says its his favorite city in the world. We finished our trip in Madrid, which was nice, but we really wanted to go back to Sevilla! (Saw F.C. Sevilla play Madera in a UEFA cup match, too
Seville The Flamenco, the architecture, and the bullfights all go hand in hand to create this city like no other.
Seville's Spring Feria Spring would be an exciting time to go. Easter's Semana Santa or Holy Week, the Spring Feria, and the first bullfights of the year when the bulls are at their best. This website has some great photos of the Spring festivals. http://www.paulbourdice.com/spain.pages/spain.opening/spain.colour.sections.html Here you can find photos of 2004's Spring bullfights. Just click on Imagenes and then click siguiente paginas to go through the pages and also click on the calendar for each individual day. http://mundotoro.com/mundotoro/Abril2004/
Re: The art of the Bullfight. This is a terrific book on the subject (also a bit of a memoire by the author): http://www.a-l-kennedy.co.uk/bullfighting.htm
Re: The art of the Bullfight. It is a good book, thanks for the link Minnman. The author does a good job expressing struggles in her own life and comparing them to the bullfight. This book is excellent as well. It covers the career of the Colombian matador Cesar Rincon from the moment he makes it big in Spain and covers also how he struggles to be respected for being Colombian. Maybe the best book I've read though is Ernest Hemmingway's classic Death in the Afternoon. A must for anyone interested in bullfighting.
Re: The art of the Bullfight. She also uses the recurring theme of duende (sp?) in an amazing novel called Everything You Need (though in an entirely different context), which I read before I picked up On Bullfighting. It was easy see see the genesis of one of the central themes of that novel when I read On Bullfighting. Funny how she just stumbled upon the project. Interesting thread.
Re: The art of the Bullfight. Sevilla es una ciudad magica. NO ME ADEJADO! The culture of the city is one that is unrivalled anywhere else in the world. Never have I seen a city where the people are so lively. The city seems to give an extra bounce in the step to the people there. If you have a chance, study abroad there. If not, try to spend at least a week there. Having lived there for two years when I was younger then studying abroad there, it is by far my favorite city in the world. The only other city which can compare to it is Brussels, which is cultured in a more traditional manner as compared to Sevilla which culture is its own and is shared by nobody. La Feria, Semana Santa, la sevillana, el flamenco, la marcha, el botellon (sadly gone now). All of this on top of the fact that Las Sevillanas are just about the most beautiful group of women in the world. Lo echo de menos.
Re: The art of the Bullfight. With all due respect to Papa, I would suggest: Or I'll Dress You in Mourning : The Story of El Cordobes and the New Spain He Stands For. You'll learn not just about El Cordobes, but about Spain from the civil war to the late 1960's (it was published in 1968). I re-read it last summer, still a good read.
Re: The art of the Bullfight. I'd heard of Duende in the context of Flamenco. It's a state of mind akin to 'being in the zone'.
France Many people that don't know too much about bullfighting may be surprised to learn that bullfighting is quite popular in the south of France. Places like Arles, Nimes, Toulouse, Mont de Marsan, Vic, Dax, Ceret and St Martin de Crau (among others) hold dozens of corridas every year. Some of them being held in ancient Roman arenas like those in Arles and Nimes. Arles Nimes Toulouse But not all of the arenas are old. Toulouse opened a new bullring in 2003.