Bullfight- Las Ventas, Madrid

On the Sunday my family came to visit, we went to a bullfight in Madrid. It was at Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, which was inaugurated in 1931. It has one of the worlds largest rings,holding over 25,000 people. Before coming to Spain I had obviously heard of bullfights, however I did not know that the bull was killed during the fight. I was not sure what to expect, but I was excited to experience an old part of Spain's culture.

The stadium was beautiful, and luckily we purchased seats specifically in the shade, because it was hot! Hardly anyone was sitting in the sunny area. The arena was about half full as this was a novillada (newer, up and coming matadors).

The beginning of the fight was very show-like. There was a band playing and all of the matadors and banderilleros marched into the ring. Their outfits were very elaborate and beautiful. So far it seemed great!

The Opening Parade

Then they released the bull...

I was crying in under a minute. Not full-on sobbing, but there were definitely tears, and a lot of them. The bull was terrified. All he was doing was trying to find a way out. The men in the ring kept distracting them with their capes, which obviously made the bull mad.

After irritating the bull for about five minutes, men on horses came into the ring. The bull was practically forced to charge the horse (which was completely padded and blind folded) and the man on the horse jabbed a spear into the back of the bull.

Picadores

After that happened about twice, the horses left and men (called banderilleros) charged the bull and stuck two barbed sticks (with colored flags attached) into the bulls back. This caused the blood to really start pouring.

Banderilleros

After the banderilleros were finished, the matador re-enters with a long sword and the all-famous red cape (bulls are actually color blind. They are attracted to the movement, the red is used so the blood won't be as noticeable).

After more taunting, the matador charges the bull and stabs the entire sword into the bulls back.

The bull eventually falls and someone comes in and severs it's spinal cord.

The entire process took about 20 minutes. I uploaded a video of the end of one of the fights. It is slightly graphic, but if you are interested in seeing what actually happens, click the link below.
 

Video of Bullfight

So if one time wasn't enough, it happened FIVE more times with three different matadors. SIX bulls were killed during the course of 2 hours.

 After the first one, I stopped crying and relaxed a little, but still it was not the most fun experience I have ever had. I was cheering for the bulls the entire time. One of the bulls actually threw a matador into the air and he landed on the bulls back. That was by far my favorite part.

I appreciate it being a part of Spain's culture, but I am by no means an advocate of bullfighting. I have killed cows, sheep and pigs in class before, I do not have a problem with the killing of the bull. It is the never ending torture that bothers me.

I am glad I went, but I will NEVER go to a bullfight again. I would not suggest it for anyone who is in the least bit squeamish.