Dia 22: La Corrida de Toros

¡Bienvenidos a mi experiencia de La Corrida de Toros!

Today I spent all day at home watching movies for my culture class because I have to do a group presentation about films directed by Spaniards.

For lunch we had cerdo and patatas, gazpacho and then cerezas for dessert. It was heavenly.

At 615 we met our group in the plaza and headed to the stadium for La Corrida de Toros. To say that I was nervous was an understatement. I was about to do something that I had promised myself I would never do. The last time I was in Spain I had the opportunity to go to one and immediately chose to not attend. I was so against it that I legit thought that people who attended bullfights were slightly barbaric in nature. Furthermore, I am super against violence and I’ve never really seen anyone or anything die before. I’ve never touched a gun, I am scared when I hold people’s switch blades or pocket knives. I think I’ve made it clear. I’m not violent and I don’t like witnessing violence either. Yet here I was, en route to an event so violent that it is banned in some parts of Spain, the very country that began the art.

At least I had attended an informational meeting the day before so I was knowledgeable about the different stages of the fights and why people react the way they do and how there is an art to killing the bull and that they don’t want it to suffer a slow death, so much so that they boo when the matador is not performing the art skillfully enough.

We arrive at the stadium and the streets surrounding it are very busy. It was all hustle and bustle of well-dressed Spaniards headed in for the blood bath (exaggeration).

Lots of people were lining a sidewalk that leads into the stadium. Our ISA leaders told us to wait there as well because the matadors are going to walk through and we can take pictures with them (like Gator Walk at UF).

The first matador that walked through was adorable. A) He was blonde so I could barely even believe he was Spanish and B) He looked soooo young. Thankfully we snapped this great group picture.

And then he and I fell in love (as evident in the photo of us tenderly gazing into each others eyes). We have scheduled our wedding for Sunday, June 16th.

Another hot little matador came through. Damn. They’re matador attire is quite the spectacle. I already love sparkles so that was enchanting enough BUT to make it even better, their pants are tighter than a baseball players (if that’s possible). MJ told me the pants are so tight that they have to have people help them get into their clothing! They wear tight clothing that way when the bull is running around, its horns don’t catch onto baggy clothes and then yank them down. Apparently I’m not the only one to think they have nice little tushies because I later found these post cards:

We got into the rink and it was gorgeous. I was very surprised to see how relatively small it was. I’m so used to being in baseball stadiums or football stadiums where its huge and the athletes are so far away that they look like ants. This stadium was the perfect size. Every seat was a good one.

We all sat down and anxiously awaited for the event to start… by anxiously I mean we had a photo shoot to pass the time.

There were 3 matadors at this bullfight and each of them was going to kill 2 bulls (aka 6 total bull fights), so we were in it for the long haul. Truthfully, I thought I was going to have to leave at some point because I thought I’d be so saddened and disgusted. I will report now that I did NOT leave the stadium. I did in fact witness 6 bullfights.

ATTENTION, if you don’t want the general details of a bullfight, skip the next paragraph:

Alright, quick low down on how each bull fight goes (I’m not an expert). They release a bull to come charging into the ring. It runs around and does a little lap. Meanwhile, a team of 4 matadors (3 assistants and 1 one main matador) come into the rink and each of them are carrying a hot pink cape and are waving it at the bull. The bull charges at each of them and they artfully escape death every time. A man on a horse enters the ring and rides up to the bull and stabs his back a couple of times to facilitate in agitating him. Then, 3 of the assistant matadors insert spikes into the back of the bull. After all 6 spikes are in his back, the main matador gets his red cape (the finale cape) and uses that to demonstrate his expertise in getting the bull to charge. If the audience thinks the matador is performing the art in the proper way they will say “bien… bien… bien….OLE!”. Finally he takes out a very long pointy sword and inserts it into the bull’s back. When performed correctly, the bull dies within 30 seconds of the final stab because the sword goes through his spine and into his lungs, causing them to collapse.

Everything I just described is the ideal way a bullfight goes. That isn’t to say that each of the 6 bullfights I witnessed were ideal.

The first bull comes charging into the arena and I’m amazed at the size of this animal. It’s huge and looks so incredibly powerful. The team of matadors comes running out with their enchantingly beautifully pink capes. Man, it was a very lovely pink. -- Side note, bulls have no color preference because they are colorblind. They simply charge at anything that moves. -- They each wave their capes in different corners of the arena, causing the bull to run around everywhere. HEAVENS TO BETSY, the bull can book it. It was a little Speedy Gonzalez. This was all quite suspenseful for me because it’s a bunch of men dressed in sparkles waving hot pink flags (which one would think sounds very feminine) but in reality they are risking their lives and letting a raging and massive animal charge them. I was very impressed that none of them died.

(just released into the arena)

(pink cape)

One time the bull bent its head down so low when it was charging that its horns got caught in the dirt and it flipped over. It was crazy, the whole crowd squealed. Then the guy on the horse comes out to do his dirty deed and I did not care for this part. The horse is completely blinded because they get spooked easily. The bull comes charging at the man on the horse. Thankfully, the horse is wearing a ton of armor so it wont be impaled by the bull’s horns. I didn’t like this part because the helpless horse is getting pushed around by the bull and it looks like he might cause the horse to fall over. Even though that never happened, it made me uncomfortable every time.

Also, inserting the little spikes into the bulls back is no easy task. The assistants have to get the attention of the bull to charge at them while they have a spike in each hand and no cape to distract the bull. They run at the bull, stab its back and immediately step to the side because bulls don’t have good turning radiuses (like my Mom’s Chrysler Pacifica). Regardless, often the assistants needed several attempts to successfully insert the spikes. When they don’t perform to the audiences liking, it is very evident. The fans don’t react with as much anger as they do at futbol games, ie no one yelled Puta Madre, but they all start whistling and in a bull ring whistling is mal.

(the assistants carrying the spikes)

The first main matador was my fiancé, Blondie. He’s 23. He did a pretty good job. However, one time the bull almost stabbed him with his horn! He missed the horn by the skin of his teeth. He fell onto the ground, his legs flew into the air and all of his assistants immediately ran into the rink. The crowd gasped. I immediately was covered in Goosebumps and could feel my heart in my throat. My eyes got misty. I’m not trying to witness any humans die.  Fortunately, he was lucky and didn’t even get injured. Finally, he very skillfully inserted the sword and the bull died almost instantly. Again I was covered in goose bumps and got a tiny bit misty at the sight of a bull slumped over on the ground.

To my surprise, after having witnessed the first bullfight, I was pretty desensitized to the remaining 5. There is honestly almost no visible blood involved in the task. It’s all internal injuries. Trust me on this one. I don’t like gore but I could stomach the bullfight pretty well.

(red cape)

To everyone’s dismay, 2 matadors in a row were not as skillful in administering the final stab to the back. This meant the bulls did not die right away, which enrages everyone because it means the bull is suffering for too long.  One time they even pulled the sword out of his back and stabbed him again. Even MJ could not watch this because it is just too much suffering for the bull. I did not enjoy this part at all and therefore looked away for most of it.

Now, if the audience thinks the matador did a superb job they will all stand, clap and wave their white handkerchiefs in the air. Depending on how well he is received by the audience and also by the president of the bull ring, he will win one of 3 very honorable prizes: una oreja, dos orejas, dos orejas y la cola. (1 ear, 2 ears, 2 ears and the tail)

When it was Blondie’s turn again he did a VERY skillful performance. Everyone was screaming OLE! And at the end he had a complete standing ovation where everyone waved their panhuelos (handkerchiefs) and cheered. Therefore, they cut off one ear of the bull he had just killed and gave it to him as his reward (in addition to the money he makes for performing. The ear is mainly for prestige. How many ears a matador has received in his career is a statistic that they keep). After he received his prize he walked around the entire arena bowing and waving at the audience.

Honestly, his bullfight was very enjoyable. I was impressed and entertained. It was very textbook. Everything happened the way it was supposed to which makes the Spaniards overjoyed.

Blondie was clearly the best of the 3 main matadors because the other ones always seemed to struggle a little and he was the only one to receive a prize.

Overall, I did NOT hate it, but I did NOT love it. I expected to be disgusted by barbaric behavior and it truly was not the case. Yes an innocent animal was killed in public. However, I wholeheartedly appreciate the skill and art form it takes to not only avoid dying but to execute the bullfight properly. There are certain poses the matador has to execute. Also, he can never let the bull actually touch the cape and all of his motions have to be fluid. When it’s just the matador, a cape and the bull it’s a captivating performance.

I am very glad that I attended the bullfight. It’s most certainly an unforgettable experience. I no longer think that the people who go to these are barbaric. It was NOT a blood bath. I’m glad I can check this one off of my bucket list. Once will most likely be enough for my lifetime.

After the fight a small group of us went across the street to a beer and tapas bar with MJ and Juan. They ordered us 3 great dishes: Piripi, Calamari en su Tinta y Ensalada con Atun. Each dish was delicious. Piripi was BY FAR the best tapa I’ve had in Spain. It’s a tiny little sandwhich with pork, bacon, thick tomato and garlic mayo. Oh lord. Oh lord. I could have had 5. Sadly, I only had 1. I’m upset that I’m not eating one right now. So damn tasty AND bonus points because the name is fun to say! After about an hour and a half of hanging  out and enjoying a couple beers, I headed back home.

 (Piripi)

 (calamari en su tinta)

 (atun)

Quite the eventful afternoon/evening indeed. Tomorrow we head to Cordoba and Granada!

Hasta Luego,

Raquel