Bullfighting

Bullwrestling, Édouard Manet, 1865–1866

Bullfighting in autonomous communities of Spain as of 2012.
• Exceptions should be noted, such as the area of Pamplona in northern Navarre and Bilbao in the Basque Country, only during their annual festivals.
• In 1991, the Canary Islands became the first Spanish Autonomous Community to ban bullfighting, and Catalonia became the second in January 2012.

Bullfighting in provinces of Spain in the 19th century, when bullfights were promoted by the governments as national symbol.

Bullfighting (Spanish: corrida de toros [koˈriða ðe ˈtoɾos] or toreo [toˈɾeo]; Portuguese: tourada [toˈɾaðɐ]), also known as tauromachia or tauromachy (Spanish: tauromaquia  listen , Portuguese: tauromaquia; from Greek: ταυρομαχία "bull-fight"),^[1] is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, southern France and some Latin American countries (Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru),^[2] in which one or more bulls are fought in a bullring. Although a blood sport, by definition, some followers of the spectacle prefer to view it as a 'fine art' and not a sport,^[3] as there are no elements of competition in the proceedings.

The bullfight, as it is practiced today, involves professional toreros (of whom the most senior, who actually kills the bull, is called a matador) who execute various formal moves which have a meaning, or at least a name, according to the bullfighter's style or school. It has been alleged that toreros seek to elicit inspiration and art from their work and an emotional connection with the crowd transmitted through the bull. The close proximity places the bullfighter at some risk of being gored or trampled by the weakened bull. After the bull has been hooked multiple times behind the shoulder by other matadors in the arena, the bullfight usually concludes with the killing of the bull by a single sword thrust, which is called the estocada. In Portugal, the finale consists of a tradition called the pega, where men (forcados) try to grab and hold the bull by its horns when it runs at them.

There are many historic fighting venues in the Iberian Peninsula, France and Latin America. The largest venue of its kind is the Plaza México in central Mexico City, which seats 48,000 people,^[4] and the oldest is the La Maestranza in Seville, Spain, which was first used for bullfighting in 1765.^[5]

Forms of non-lethal bullfighting also appear outside the Iberian and Francophone world, including the Tamil Nadu practise of jallikattu; and the Portuguese-influenced mchezo wa ngombe (Kiswahili for "sport with bull") is also practiced on the Tanzanian islands of Pemba and Zanzibar. Types of bullfighting which involve bulls fighting other bulls, rather than humans, are found in the Balkans, Turkey, the Persian Gulf, Bangladesh, Japan, Peru and Korea. In many parts of the Western United States, various rodeo events like calf roping and bull riding were influenced by the Spanish bullfighting.

History

Bull-leaping: Fresco from Knossos, Crete

Bullfighting traces its roots to prehistoric bull worship and sacrifice in Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean region. The first recorded bull fight may be the Epic of Gilgamesh, which describes a scene in which Gilgamesh and Enkidu fought and killed the Bull of Heaven ("The Bull seemed indestructible, for hours they fought, till Gilgamesh dancing in front of the Bull, lured it with his tunic and bright weapons, and Enkidu thrust his sword, deep into the Bull's neck, and killed it").^[6] Bull leaping was portrayed in Crete, and myths related to bulls throughout Greece. The killing of the sacred bull (tauroctony) is the essential central iconic act of Mithras, which was commemorated in the mithraeum wherever Roman soldiers were stationed. The oldest representation of what seems to be a man facing a bull is on the Celtiberian tombstone from Clunia and the cave painting El toro de hachos, both found in Spain.^[7][8]

Bullfighting is often linked to Rome, where many human-versus-animal events were held as competition and entertainment, the Venationes. These hunting games spread to Africa, Europe and Asia during Roman times. There are also theories that it was introduced into Hispania by the Emperor Claudius, as a substitute for gladiators, when he instituted a short-lived ban on gladiatorial combat. The latter theory was supported by Robert Graves (picadors are related to warriors who wielded the javelin, but their role in the contest is now a minor one limited to "preparing" the bull for the matador.) Spanish colonists took the practice of breeding cattle and bullfighting to the American colonies, the Pacific and Asia. In the 19th century, areas of southern and southwestern France adopted bullfighting, developing their own distinctive form.

Mithras killing a bull

Religious festivities and royal weddings were celebrated by fights in the local plaza, where noblemen would ride competing for royal favor, and the populace enjoyed the excitement. In the Middle Ages across Europe, knights would joust in competitions on horseback. In Spain, they began to fight bulls.

In medieval Spain bullfighting was a considered a noble sport and reserved to the rich, who could afford to supply and train their animals. The bull was released into a closed arena where a single fighter on horseback was armed with a lance. This spectacle was said to be enjoyed by Charlemagne, Alfonso X the Wise and the Almohad caliphs, among others. The greatest Spanish performer of this art is said to have been El Cid. According chronicle of the time, in 1128 "... when Alfonso VII of León and Castile married Berengaria of Barcelona daughter of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona at Saldaña among other celebrations, there were also bullfights." ^[9]

The Spanish introduced the practice of fighting bulls on foot around 1726. Francisco Romero is generally regarded as having been the first to do this. This type of fighting drew more attention from the crowds. Thus the modern corrida, or fight, began to take form, as riding noblemen were substituted by commoners on foot. This new style prompted the construction of dedicated bullrings, initially square, like the Plaza de Armas, and later round, to discourage the cornering of the action.

The modern style of Spanish bullfighting is credited to Juan Belmonte, generally considered the greatest matador of all time. Belmonte introduced a daring and revolutionary style, in which he stayed within a few centimetres of the bull throughout the fight. Although extremely dangerous (Belmonte was gored on many occasions), his style is still seen by most matadors as the ideal to be emulated.

Today, bullfighting continues traditions established in 1726, when Francisco Romero, from Ronda, Spain, used the muleta in the last stage of the fight and an estoque to kill the bull.

Styles

Originally, at least five distinct regional styles of bullfighting were practised in southwestern Europe: Andalusia, Aragon–Navarre, Alentejo, Camargue, Aquitaine. Over time, these have evolved more or less into standardized national forms mentioned below. The "classic" style of bullfight, in which the bull is killed, is the form practiced in Spain and many Latin American countries.

A bull fight in Barcelona, Spain, ca.1900

Monument to a bull, Plaza de Toros de Ronda (Ronda bullring), Spain

Spanish

Spanish-style bullfighting is called corrida de toros (literally "running of bulls") or la fiesta ("the festival"). In the traditional corrida, three matadores, each fight two bulls, each of which is between four and six years old and weighs no less than 460 kg (1,014 lb)^[10] Each matador has six assistants—two picadores ("lancers on horseback") mounted on horseback, three banderilleros – who along with the matadors are collectively known as toreros ("bullfighters") – and a mozo de espadas ("sword page"). Collectively they comprise a cuadrilla ("entourage"). In Spanish the more general torero is used for the lead fighter, and only when needed to distinguish a man is the full title matador de toros used; in English, "matador" is generally used for the bullfighter.

Start of tercio de varas: polished verónica and larga serpentina during a goyesca corrida.

Welcoming of a toro" a porta gayola and series of verónica, terminated by a semi-verónica.

Structure

The modern corrida is highly ritualized, with three distinct stages or tercios ("thirds"); the start of each being announced by a bugle sound. The participants enter the arena in a parade, called the paseíllo, to salute the presiding dignitary, accompanied by band music. Torero costumes are inspired by 17th-century Andalusian clothing, and matadores are easily distinguished by the gold of their traje de luces ("suit of lights"), as opposed to the lesser banderilleros, who are also known as toreros de plata ("bullfighters of silver").

Tercio de Varas

The bull is released into the ring, where he is tested for ferocity by the matador and banderilleros with the magenta and gold capote ("cape"). This is the first stage, the tercio de varas ("the lancing third"). The matador confronts the bull with the capote, performing a series of passes and observing the behavior and quirks of the bull.

Next, a picador enters the arena on horseback armed with a vara (lance). To protect the horse from the bull's horns, the animal wears a protective, padded covering called peto. Prior to 1930, the horses did not wear any protection. Often the bull would disembowel the horse during this stage. Until the use of protection was instituted, the number of horses killed during a fiesta generally exceeded the number of bulls killed.^[11]

At this point, the picador stabs just behind the morrillo, a mound of muscle on the fighting bull's neck, weakening the neck muscles and leading to the animal's first loss of blood. The manner in which the bull charges the horse provides important clues to the matador about which side the bull favors. If the picador is successful, the bull will hold its head and horns slightly lower during the following stages of the fight. This ultimately enables the matador to perform the killing thrust later in the performance. The encounter with the picador often fundamentally changes the behaviour of a bull; distracted and unengaging bulls will become more focused and stay on a single target instead of charging at everything that moves.

Tercio de Banderillas

In the next stage, the tercio de banderillas ("the third of banderillas"), each of the three banderilleros attempts to plant two banderillas, sharp barbed sticks, into the bull's shoulders. These anger and agitate, but further weaken, the bull. He tires from his attacks on the horse and the damage he has taken from the lance. Sometimes a matador will place his own banderillas. If so, he usually embellishes this part of his performance and employs more varied manoeuvres than the standard al cuarteo method commonly used by banderilleros.

Plaza de Toros Las Ventas in Madrid

Tercio de Muerte

In the final stage, the tercio de muerte ("the third of death"), the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape, or muleta, and a sword. It is a common misconception that the color red is supposed to anger the bull; the animals are colorblind.^[12][13] The cape is thought to be red to mask the bull's blood, although the color is now a matter of tradition. The matador uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes, which serve the dual purpose of wearing the animal down for the kill and creating an interesting display, or faena. He may also demonstrate his domination of the bull by caping and bringing it especially close to his body. The faena refers to the entire performance with the cape (muleta).

It is usually broken down into tandas, or "series", of passes. The series (tanda) ends with a final series of passes in which the matador, using the cape, tries to maneuver the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart. The sword is called estoque, and the act of thrusting the sword is called an estocada. During the initial series, while the matador in part is performing for the crowd, he uses a fake sword (estoque simulado). This is made of wood or aluminum, making it lighter and much easier to handle. The estoque de verdad (real sword) is made out of steel. At the end of the tercio de muerte, when the matador has finished his faena, he will change swords to take up the steel one. He performs the estocada and kills the bull with a pierce through the heart, if all goes according to plan. Many times the bull does not get pierced through the heart during the estocada initially, and repeated efforts must be made to bring the bull down and end his life.

If the matador has performed particularly well, the crowd may petition the president by waving white handkerchiefs to award the matador an ear of the bull. If his performance was exceptional, the president will award two ears. In certain more rural rings, the practice includes award of the bull's tail. Very rarely, if the public or the matador believe that the bull has fought extremely bravely, the event's president may be petitioned to grant the bull a pardon (indulto). If the indulto is granted, the bull's life is spared; it leaves the ring alive and is returned to its home ranch. There the bull becomes a stud for the rest of his life.

• 

  First tercio: torero drawing a Verónica.

• 

  First tercio: matador making another kind of Verónica.

• 

  Second tercio: banderillero.

• 

  Third tercio: faena of muleta.

• 

  Third tercio: faena of muleta.

Recortes

Goya: The Speed and Daring of Juanito Apiñani in the Ring of Madrid 1815–16 (Tauromaquia, Νο. 20). Etching and aquatint

Poster by Cândido de Faria for the silent film Course de taureaux à Séville (1907, Pathé Frères). Chromolithograph. EYE Film Institute Netherlands.

Recortes, a style of bullfighting practiced in Navarre, La Rioja, north of Castile and Valencia, has been much less popular than the traditional corridas. But recortes have undergone a revival in Spain and are sometimes broadcast on TV.

This style was common in the early 19th century. Etchings by painter Francisco de Goya depict these events.

Recortes claims to differ from a corrida in the following ways:

• The bull is not physically injured. Drawing blood is rare, and the bull is allowed to return to his pen at the end of the performance.
• The men are dressed in common street clothes rather than traditional bullfighting dress.
• Acrobatics are performed without the use of capes or other props. Performers attempt to evade the bull solely through the swiftness of their movements.
• Rituals are less strict, so the men have freedom to perform stunts as they please.
• Men work in teams but with less role distinction than in a corrida.
• Teams compete for points awarded by a jury.

Since horses are not used, and performers are not professionals, recortes are less costly to produce.

Comic bullfighting

Comical spectacles based on bullfighting, called espectáculos cómico-taurinos or charlotadas, are still popular in Spain and Mexico. Troupes include El empastre or El bombero torero.^[14]

Encierros

An encierro or running of the bulls is an activity related to a bullfighting fiesta. Before the events that are held in the ring, people (usually young men) run in front of a small group of bulls that have been let loose, on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets.

Toro embolado

A toro embolado (in Spanish), bou embolat (in Catalan), roughly meaning "bull with balls", is a festive activity held at night and typical of many towns in Spain (mainly in the Valencian Community and Southern Catalonia). Balls of flammable material are attached to a bull's horns. The balls are lit and the bull is set free in the streets at night; participants dodge the bull when it comes close. It can be considered a variant of an encierro (correbous in Catalan). This activity is held in a number of Spanish towns during their local festivals. In recent years, animal welfare activists have tried to stop the practice because of cruelty to the animal.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Portuguese

Cavaleiro and bull

Most Portuguese bullfights are held in two phases: the spectacle of the cavaleiro, and the pega. In the cavaleiro, a horseman on a Portuguese Lusitano horse (specially trained for the fights) fights the bull from horseback. The purpose of this fight is to stab three or four bandeiras (small javelins) into the back of the bull.

In the second stage, called the pega ("holding"), the forcados, a group of eight men, challenge the bull directly without any protection or weapon of defence. The front man provokes the bull into a charge to perform a pega de cara or pega de caras (face grab). The front man secures the animal's head and is quickly aided by his fellows who surround and secure the animal until he is subdued.^[19] Forcados are dressed in a traditional costume of damask or velvet, with long knitted hats as worn by the campinos (bull headers) from Ribatejo.

The bull is not killed in the ring and, at the end of the corrida, leading oxen are let into the arena and two campinos on foot herd the bull among them back to its pen. The bull is usually killed out of sight of the audience by a professional butcher. It can happen that some bulls, after an exceptional performance, are healed, released to pasture until their end days and used for breeding.

In the Portuguese Azores islands, there is a form of bullfighting called tourada à corda, in which a bull is led on a rope along a street, while players taunt and dodge the bull, who is not killed during or after the fight, but returned to pasture and used in later events.

French

The Roman amphitheatre at Arles being fitted for a corrida

A bullfight in Arles in 1898.

Since the 19th century, Spanish-style corridas have been increasingly popular in Southern France where they enjoy legal protection in areas where there is an uninterrupted tradition of such bull fights, particularly during holidays such as Whitsun or Easter. Among France's most important venues for bullfighting are the ancient Roman arenas of Nîmes and Arles, although there are bull rings across the South from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic coasts. Bullfights of this kind held in France are no different from those held in Spain and Latin America excepting minor cosmetic differences such as music. This is not to be confused with the bloodless bullfights referred to below which are indigenous to France.

A raseteur takes a rosette

Course camarguaise (course libre)

A more indigenous genre of bullfighting is widely common in the Provence and Languedoc areas, and is known alternately as "course libre" or "course camarguaise". This is a bloodless spectacle (for the bulls) in which the objective is to snatch a rosette from the head of a young bull. The participants, or raseteurs, begin training in their early teens against young bulls from the Camargue region of Provence before graduating to regular contests held principally in Arles and Nîmes but also in other Provençal and Languedoc towns and villages. Before the course, an abrivado—a "running" of the bulls in the streets—takes place, in which young men compete to outrun the charging bulls. The course itself takes place in a small (often portable) arena erected in a town square. For a period of about 15–20 minutes, the raseteurs compete to snatch rosettes (cocarde) tied between the bulls' horns. They do not take the rosette with their bare hands but with a claw-shaped metal instrument called a raset or crochet (hook) in their hands, hence their name. Afterwards, the bulls are herded back to their pen by gardians (Camarguais cowboys) in a bandido, amidst a great deal of ceremony. The stars of these spectacles are the bulls, who get top billing and stand to gain fame and statues in their honor, and lucrative product endorsement contracts.^[20]

Course landaise

Another type of French 'bullfighting' is the "course landaise", in which cows are used instead of bulls. This is a competition between teams named cuadrillas, which belong to certain breeding estates. A cuadrilla is made up of a teneur de corde, an entraîneur, a sauteur, and six écarteurs. The cows are brought to the arena in crates and then taken out in order. The teneur de corde controls the dangling rope attached to the cow's horns and the entraîneur positions the cow to face and attack the player. The écarteurs will try, at the last possible moment, to dodge around the cow and the sauteur will leap over it. Each team aims to complete a set of at least one hundred dodges and eight leaps. This is the main scheme of the "classic" form, the course landaise formelle. However, different rules may be applied in some competitions. For example, competitions for Coupe Jeannot Lafittau are arranged with cows without ropes.

At one point, it resulted in so many fatalities that the French government tried to ban it, but had to back down in the face of local opposition. The bulls themselves are generally fairly small, much less imposing than the adult bulls employed in the corrida. Nonetheless, the bulls remain dangerous due to their mobility and vertically formed horns. Participants and spectators share the risk; it is not unknown for angry bulls to smash their way through barriers and charge the surrounding crowd of spectators. The course landaise is not seen as a dangerous sport by many, but écarteur Jean-Pierre Rachou died in 2003 when a bull's horn tore his femoral artery.

Similar customs in other countries

Tamil Nadu (India)

A victorious youth taking control of the bull at Alanganallur Jallikattu

Jallikattu is a traditional bull-taming sport played in Tamil Nadu, India, as a part of Pongal celebration. It is held in the villages of Tamil Nadu as a part of the village festivals held from January to July, with the most popular event held in Alanganallur, near Madurai. Jallikattu bulls belong to a few specific breeds of cattle that descended from the naturally pugnacious kangayam breed of cattle. In jallikattu, the bull isn't killed and the competitors are unarmed; the sport is also known as manju virattu ("chasing the bull").

There are three main varieties of jallikattu:

• Found mainly in the districts of Madurai, Pudukkottai, Theni, Tanjore, and Salem, Vadi manju virattu involves a bull released from an enclosure, and the player attempts to cling to its hump. The bull attempts to shake off the rider, who competes to keep his hold on the bull while it runs a predetermined distance

• Vaeli virattu has a bull released into an open field, where it may either run, or stand its ground and be taunted by players who approach it and dodge its attacks.
• Vadam manjuvirattu (vadam meaning "rope" in Tamil) involves a bull tied to a 50-foot-long rope (15 m) and free to move within that radius. A team of seven or nine members must attempt to subdue the bull within 30 minutes.

In May 2014, the Supreme Court of India banned jallikattu, citing animal welfare issues.^[21]

Goa(India)

Dhiri or Dhirio(Konkani:धिरी,धिरयो) is a popular form of traditional bullfight in the state of Goa,Coastal South West India. In this version of a bullfight two bulls are pitted against each other, rather than the man-against-bull version. It was the weekend entertainment staple for most villages. Many families lived off the earnings made on appearance money and bets alone.^[22]The Panaji Bench of the high Court vide order dated 20.12.96 had directed the State Government to take immediate steps to ban all types of animals fight including Dhirio organised in the State of Goa, which was finally banned in 1997.^[23]Dhiri bullfights are still very popular in Goa in-spite of the ban. There have been demands for legalizing Dhiri.^[24]

Persian Gulf

Bullfighting in Oman

Bullfighting is found in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. This form of bullfighting is not lethal: two Brahman bulls are presented to each other and allowed to lock horns and fight, while their handlers hold ropes to separate them if necessary.^[25]

The origins of bullfighting in Oman are unknown, though locals believe it was brought to Oman by the Moors who had conquered Spain. Its existence in Oman and the UAE is also attributed to Portugal which colonized the Omani coastline for nearly two centuries,^[26][27] and also introduced bullfighting to Omani Zanzibar.^[28]

United States

Freestyle bullfighting is a style of bullfighting developed in American rodeo. The style was developed by the rodeo clowns who protect bull riders from being trampled or gored by an angry bull. Freestyle bullfighting is a 70-second competition in which the bullfighter (rodeo clown) avoids the bull by means of dodging, jumping and use of a barrel. Competitions are organized in the US as the "World" Bullfighting Championship (WBC) and the Dickies National Bullfighting Championship under auspices of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR).

Bloodless bullfighting in Thornton.

A distinct type of bloodless bullfighting is practised in California's Central Valley. In this historically Portuguese-settled area, a form of bullfight has developed in which the bull is taunted by a matador, but the lances are tipped with velcro and aimed at velcro patches secured to the bull's shoulder. Fights occur from May through October around traditional Portuguese holidays.^[29]

Balkans and Turkey

Grmeč, a mountain in the extreme west of Bosnia, is the best-known site of bullfights in the Balkans. They are called the Corrida of Grmeč (Grmečka korida) and have been organised on every first Sunday in August for over 200 years, attracting thousands of visitors. These are fights between bulls themselves and there is no death of a bull. Fights happen in an empty field.^[30] The Corrida of Grmeč was depicted by the sculptor Slobodan Pejić. The sculpture of two bulls in a fight, made in bronze in 2004, has been compared to a confrontation of the oppressor and the oppressed or of the Bosnian people and the Austrian Emperor.^[31]

A similar type of bull-against-bull wrestling found in Turkey is known as boğa güreşi (literally Bull wrestling). Each year, the third week of June, the Kafkasör (Caucasus) festival takes place in the city of Artvin. At the beginning of the festival, certain rules are applied in order to save the bulls from injury. For example, if a bull retreats from fight it means defeat, etc.^[32]

Tanzania

Bullfighting was introduced by the Portuguese to Zanzibar and to Pemba Island, in modern Tanzania, where it is known as mchezo wa ngombe. Similar to the Portuguese Azorean tourada a corda, the bull is restrained by a rope, generally neither bull nor player is harmed, and the bull is not killed at the end of the fight.^[33][34]

Okinawa (Japan)

In Okinawa, a wide variety of animal-against-animal fights are popular, including a non-lethal form of bullfighting (known as tōgyū or ushi-aasee in the Okinawan language^[35]) in which two bulls attempt, as in sumo wrestling to push one another out of a ring.^[36] The sport originally came to the Ryukyu Islands from mainland Japan.^[37]

Laos, China & Vietnam

Bullfighting is also observed by the ethnic Hmong/Miao minority in China, Vietnam and Laos. Bulls are selected by age, horn length and size and are enticed to fight usually after new years or summer events. They are usually non-lethal events and bulls that carry the opposing bulls will get the most points if it is a draw. The loser is usually the bull that flees first even if winning.

Hazards

Death of the Picador – Francisco de Goya, c. 1793

Muerte del Maestro (Death of the Master) – Jose Villegas Cordero, 1884

Stuffed bull head in a bar in San Sebastian

Spanish-style bullfighting is normally fatal for the bull, but it is also dangerous for the matador. Matadors are usually gored every season, with picadors and banderilleros being gored less often. With the discovery of antibiotics and advances in surgical techniques, fatalities are now rare, although over the past three centuries 533 notable professional bullfighters have died in the ring or from injuries sustained there.^[38]

Some matadors, notably Juan Belmonte, have been seriously gored many times: according to Ernest Hemingway, Belmonte's legs were marred by many ugly scars. A special type of surgeon has developed, in Spain and elsewhere, to treat cornadas, or horn-wounds.

The bullring has a chapel where a matador can pray before the corrida, and where a priest can be found in case a sacrament is needed. The most relevant sacrament is now called "Anointing of the Sick"; it was formerly known as "Extreme Unction", or the "Last Rites".

The media often reports the more horrific of bullfighting injuries, such as the September 2011 goring of matador Juan José Padilla's head by a bull in Zaragoza, resulting in the loss of his left eye, use of his right ear and facial paralysis. He returned to bullfighting five months later with an eyepatch, multiple titanium plates in his skull, and the nickname 'The Pirate'.^[39]

Cultural aspects

Many supporters of bullfighting regard it as a deeply ingrained, integral part of their national cultures; in Spain it is called "La fiesta nacional", literally "the national festival". The aesthetic of bullfighting is based on the interaction of the man and the bull. Rather than a competitive sport, the bullfight is more of a ritual of ancient origin, which is judged by aficionados (bullfighting fans) based on artistic impression and command. Ernest Hemingway said of it in his 1932 non-fiction book Death in the Afternoon: "Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter's honour." Bullfighting is seen as a symbol of Spanish culture.

The bullfight is regarded as a demonstration of style, technique and courage by its participants and as a demonstration of cruelty and cowardice by its critics. While there is usually no doubt about the outcome, the bull is not viewed by bullfighting supporters as a sacrificial victim — it is instead seen by the audience as a worthy adversary, deserving of respect in its own right.

Those who oppose bullfighting maintain that the practice is a cowardly, sadistic tradition of torturing, humiliating and killing a bull amidst pomp and pageantry.^[40] Supporters of bullfights, called "aficionados", claim they respect the bulls, that the bulls live better than other cattle, and that bullfighting is a grand tradition; a form of art important to their culture.^[41]

Popularity, controversy and criticism

Animal rights

Many animal rights activists consider this to be a cruel, barbaric blood sport, in which the bull suffers severe stress and a slow, torturous death.^{[42][43][44][45]} A number of animal rights or animal welfare activist groups undertake anti-bullfighting actions in Spain and other countries. According to a poll conducted in Atlanta, U.S., in 2003, 46% of the Americans polled hated or strongly disliked bull fighting.^[46] In Spanish, opposition to bullfighting is referred to as antitaurina.

Bull dying in a bullfight

Bullfighting guide The Bulletpoint Bullfight warns that bullfighting is "not for the squeamish", advising spectators to "Be prepared for blood" The guide details prolonged and profuse bleeding caused by horse-mounted lancers; the charging by the bull of a blindfolded, armored horse who is "sometimes doped up, and unaware of the proximity of the bull"; the placing of barbed darts by banderilleros; followed by the matador's fatal sword thrust. The guide stresses that these procedures are a normal part of bullfighting and that death is rarely instantaneous. The guide further warns those attending bullfights to "Be prepared to witness various failed attempts at killing the animal before it lies down."^[47]

Others, such as author Alexander Fiske-Harrison who trained as a bullfighter to research for a book on the subject, have argued that there are mitigating circumstances to this: "In terms of animal welfare, the fighting bull lives four to six years whereas the meat cow lives one to two. What is more, it doesn’t just live in the sense of existing, it lives a full and natural life. Those years are spent free roaming in the dehesa, the lightly wooded natural pastureland which is the residue of the ancient forests of Spain. It is a rural idyll, although with the modern additions of full veterinary care and an absence of predators big enough to threaten evolution’s answer to a main battle tank." Other arguments include that the death of animals in slaughterhouses is very often worse than the death in the ring, and that both types of animal die for entertainment since humans do not need to consume meat, eating it instead for taste (bulls enter the food chain after the bullfight).^[48]

Funding

A ticket stub from 1926

It has also been noted by critics that bullfighting is financed with public money.^[49] In 2007, the Spanish fighting bull breeding industry was allocated 500 million euros in grants,^[50] and in 2008 almost 600 million.^[51] Some of this money comes from European funds to livestock.^[52] Bullfighting supporters argue that almost every single cultural endeavour in Europe is partially financed by public money and few of them generate the kind of revenue and taxes in return that bullfighting does through its impact on businesses like hotels, restaurants, insurances and other industries directly or indirectly linked to the spectacle. In Spain, bullfighting constitutes an estimated 12% of the €15 billion entertainment industry.^[53]

Style

Another current of criticism comes from aficionados themselves, who may despise modern developments such as the defiant style ("antics" for some) of El Cordobés or the lifestyle of Jesulín de Ubrique, a common subject of Spanish gossip magazines.

Politics

Late-19th-century / early-20th-century Fin-de-siècle Spanish regeneracionista intellectuals protested against what they called the policy of pan y toros ("bread and bulls"), an analogue of Roman panem et circenses promoted by politicians to keep the populace content in its oppression. During the Franco dictatorship, bullfights were supported by the state as something genuinely Spanish, as the fiesta nacional, so that bullfights became associated with the regime and, for this reason, many thought they would decline after the transition to democracy, but this did not happen. Later social-democratic governments, particularly the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, have generally been more opposed to bullfighting, prohibiting children under 14 from attending and limiting or prohibiting the broadcast of bullfights on national TV.

Some in Spain despise bullfighting because of its association with the Spanish nation and the Franco regime.^[54] Despite its long history and popularity in Barcelona, in 2010 bullfighting was outlawed across the Catalonia region, following a campaign led by an animal rights civic platform called "Prou!" ("Enough!" in Catalan). Critics have argued that the ban was motivated by issues of Catalan independentism.^[55]

The Spanish Royal Family is divided on the issue, from Queen Sofía who does not hide her dislike for bullfights;^[56] to King Juan Carlos who occasionally presides over a bullfight from the royal box as part of his official duties;^[57][58][59] to their daughter Princess Elena who is well known for her liking of bullfights and who often accompanies the king in the presiding box or attends privately in the general seating.^[60] The King has allegedly stated that "the day the EU bans bullfighting is the day Spain leaves the EU".^[61]

Pro-bullfighting supporters include the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his government, who say the tradition is an art-form deep rooted in Spanish history. Thus the 6-year ban on live bullfights broadcast on the state-run TV Channel has been lifted and live Bullfights are shown at the traditional 6 p.m. time on TVE as of September 2012.^[62]

Religion

Judaism

In Judaism, the Talmud (Nezikin: Avodah Zarah) discusses the Rabbis' warning against visiting "stadiums and circuses". Prominent eleventh-century scholar Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (Rashi) interpreted "stadiums" as referring to "a place where they taunt the bull". Eighteenth-century scholar Rabbi Yechezkel Landau (Noda' BiYehuda) was asked if one may hunt for sport. He answered that one may not, for it involves putting oneself in danger and is a demonstration of cruelty toward animals. Former Chief Rabbi of Israel Rav Ovadia Yosef was asked specifically if one may watch a bullfight. He answered that it is forbidden: one must not go to places where performing acts of cruelty against animals is made into a form of amusement.^[63]

Islam

Housni al-Khateeb Shehada, an Israeli college lecturer on Islamic art and culture, analyzed the responses of Sunni jurists at IslamOnline to inquiries relating to animal cruelty and concluded that there is a strict prohibition against tormenting animals for purposes of amusement, entertainment, or spectator sport.^[64]

On 17 October 1987, during its 10th session, the Islamic Council discussed the practices of bullfighting and animal pits (where two or more animals are agitated and forced to fight each other for the sole purpose of entertainment), and issued a fatwa that both are considered haraam (forbidden by Allah) due to their cruel nature.^[65]

Media prohibitions

State-run Spanish TVE had cancelled live coverage of bullfights in August 2007 until September 2012, claiming that the coverage was too violent for children who might be watching, and that live coverage violated a voluntary, industry-wide code attempting to limit "sequences that are particularly crude or brutal".^[66] In October 2008, in a statement to Congress, Luis Fernández, the President of Spanish State Broadcaster TVE, confirmed that the station will no longer broadcast live bullfights due to the high cost of production and a rejection of the events by advertisers. However the station will continue to broadcast 'Tendido Cero', a bullfighting magazine programme.^[67] Having the national Spanish TV stop broadcasting it, after 50 years of history, was considered a big step for its abolition. Nevertheless, other regional and private channels keep broadcasting it with good audiences.^[68]

The Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his government have lifted the ban on live bullfights being shown on TVE and live bullfights are now shown at the traditional 6 p.m. time on TVE as of September 2012.^[62]

A Portuguese television station stopped broadcasting of bullfights in January 2008, on the grounds that they were too violent for minors.^[69]

Declaration as Cultural Patrimony

A growing list of Spanish, French and South American cities and regions have started to formally declare their celebrations of bullfighting part of their protected cultural patrimony. Most of these declarations have come into place as a counter-reaction in the aftermath of the 2010 ban in Catalonia.^[70]

As of April 2012, the latest addition to this list is the Andalusian City of Seville.^[71]

Bans

Pre-20th century

Plaza de toros de Acho in Lima, Peru—the oldest bullring in South America, dating back to 1766

In November 1567, Pope Pius V issued a papal bull titled De Salute Gregis and forbidding fighting of bulls and any other beasts as the voluntary risk to life endangered the soul of the combatants, but it was abolished eight years later by his successor, Pope Gregory XIII, at the request of King Philip II.

Bullfighting was introduced in Uruguay in 1776 by Spain and abolished by Uruguayan law in February 1912. Bullfighting was also introduced in Argentina by Spain, but after Argentina's independence, the event drastically diminished in popularity and was abolished in 1899 under law 2786.^[72]

Bullfighting was present in Cuba during its colonial period, but was abolished by the United States military under the pressure of civic associations right after the Spanish–American War in 1901.^[73] Bullfighting was also banned for a period in Mexico in 1890; consequently some Spanish bullfighters moved to the United States to transfer their skills to the American rodeos.^[74]

During the 18th and 19th centuries, bullfighting in Spain was banned at several occasions (for instance by Philip V), but always reinstituted later by other governments.

Bullfighting had some popularity in the Philippines during Spanish rule, though foreign commentators derided the quality of local bulls and toreros.^[75][76] Bullfighting was noted in the Philippines as early as 1619, when it was among the festivities in celebration of Pope Urban III's authorisation of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.^[77] Following the Spanish–American War, the Americans suppressed the custom in the Philippines under the tenure of Governor General Leonard Wood, and it was replaced with a now-popular Filipino sport, basketball.^[78]

20th century onwards

Bullfighting is now banned in many countries; people taking part in such activity would be liable for terms of imprisonment for animal cruelty. "Bloodless" variations, though, are permitted and have attracted a following in California, Texas, and France.^[79] In southern France, however, the traditional form of the corrida still exists and it is protected by French law. While it is not very popular in Texas, bullfighting is legal (the only U.S. state to allow it), and both bloodless and pure forms of bullfighting occur at rodeos in small Texas towns.^[80]

In 1991, the Canary Islands became the first Spanish Autonomous Community to ban bullfighting,^[55] when they legislated to ban bullfights and other spectacles that involve cruelty to animals, with the exception of cockfighting, which is traditional in some towns in the Islands.^[81] Some supporters of bullfighting and even Lorenzo Olarte Cullen,^[82] Canarian head of government at the time, have argued that the fighting bull is not a "domestic animal" and hence the law does not ban bullfighting.^[83] The absence of spectacles since 1984 would be due to lack of demand. In the rest of Spain, national laws against cruelty to animals have abolished most blood sports, but specifically exempt bullfighting.

Several cities around the world (especially in Catalonia) have symbolically declared themselves to be Anti-Bullfighting Cities, including Barcelona in 2006. This was symbolic, as the city did not have the power to stop it. However, on 1 January 2012, it became prohibited in Catalonia (including Barcelona, the capital of this region) after a ban passed in the Regional Government in July 2010 came into effect in 2012.^[84]

Ecuador

Ecuador staged bullfights to the death for over three centuries due to being a former Spanish colony.

On 12 December 2010, Ecuador's president Rafael Correa announced that in an upcoming referendum, the country would be asked whether to ban bullfighting;^[85][86][87] in the referendum, held in May 2011, the Ecuadorians agreed on banning the final killing of the bull that happens in a corrida.^[88] This means the bull is no longer killed before the public, and is instead taken back inside the barn to be killed at the end of the event. The other parts of the corrida are still performed the same way as before in the cities that celebrate it.^[89] This part of the referendum is applied on a regional level, meaning that in regions where the population voted against the ban, which are the same regions where bullfighting is celebrated the most, killing the animal publicly in the bullfighting plaza is still performed. The main bullfighting celebration of the country, the Fiesta Brava in Quito was still allowed to take place in December 2011 after the referendum under these new rules.^[90]

Costa Rica

In Costa Rica the law prohibits the killing of bulls and other animals in public and private shows.^[91]

Catalonia

Wikinews has related news: Bull fighting banned in Catalonia

On 18 December 2009, the parliament of Catalonia, one of Spain's seventeen Autonomous Communities, approved by majority the preparation of a law to ban bullfighting in Catalonia, as a response to a popular initiative against bullfighting that gathered more than 180,000 signatures.^[92] On 28 July 2010, with the two main parties allowing their members a free vote, the ban was passed 68 to 55, with 9 abstentions. This meant Catalonia became the second Community of Spain (first was Canary Islands in 1991), and the first on the mainland, to ban bullfighting. The ban took effect on 1 January 2012, and affects only the one remaining functioning Catalonian bullring, the Plaza de toros Monumental de Barcelona.^[55][93] It does not affect the correbous, a traditional game of the Ebro area (south of Catalonia) where lighted flares are attached to a bull’s horns. The correbous are seen mainly in the municipalities in the south of Tarragona, with the exceptions of a few other towns in other provinces of Catalonia. The name correbous is essentially Catalan and Valencian; in other parts of Spain they have other names.^[94]

There is a movement to revoke the ban in the Spanish congress, citing the value of bullfighting as "cultural heritage". The proposal is backed by the majority of parliamentarians.^[95]

See also

• Arenas:
  • Bullrings of the world
• People:
  • Rodeo clown
  • List of bullfighters
  • Ordóñez (bullfighter family)
  • Romero (bullfighter family)
  • CAS International, Committee against bullfighting
• Animals:
  • Andalusian horse
  • Spanish Fighting Bull, bull breed used for fighting
  • Iberian horse
  • Lusitano, horse breed used in bullfighting
  • Miura, a bull breed
• Styles of bullfighting:
  • Picador and rejoneador, two Spanish styles of horse mounted bullfighting
  • Cow fighting, Swiss style pitting cows against each other
  • Running of the Bulls, running event usually in the morning of the bullfight
  • Jallikattu, unarmed bull-taming in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Jallikattu is an entirely different sport where the bull is not harmed or stressed in any manner. Hence it would be unfair to equate or compare Jallikattu to Bullfight.
  • Tōgyū, bullfighting style of the Ryukyu Islands (particularly Okinawa) in Japan)
• Literature and films:
  • The opera Carmen features a toreador as a major character, a well-known song about him, and a bullfight off-stage at the climax.
  • Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías ("Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías", 1935), a poem by Federico García Lorca.
  • The Dangerous Summer, Ernest Hemingway's chronicle of the bullfighting rivalry between Luis Miguel Dominguín and his brother-in-law Antonio Ordóñez
  • Death in the Afternoon, Ernest Hemingway's treatise on Spanish bullfighting
  • The Sun Also Rises, a novel by Ernest Hemingway, includes many accounts of bullfighting.
  • Shadow of a Bull, book by Maia Wojciechowska about a bullfighter's son, Manolo Olivar
  • The Story of a Matador, David L. Wolper's 1962 documentary about the life of the matador Jaime Bravo
  • Around the World in 80 Days included scenes of Cantinflas bullfighting in Chinchón.
  • Talk to Her, film by Pedro Almodóvar, contains subplot concerning female matador who is gored during a bullfight. The director was criticized for shooting footage of a bull being actually killed during a bullfight staged especially for the film.
  • The Brave One
  • Mexican Joyride, a cartoon in which Daffy Duck takes a trip to Mexico and attends a bullfight, during which the bull turns him into the matador
  • Bully for Bugs, a cartoon in which Bugs Bunny burrows into a bullfight and becomes the matador
  • For Whom the Bull Toils, a cartoon in which Goofy is mistaken for a skilled matador after unwittingly conquering a bull while touring Mexico.
  • Bolero, romantic drama featuring rejoneo as a central theme.
• Others
  • Ban on bullfighting in Catalonia
  • Pasodoble

References

Further reading

• Fiske-Harrison, Alexander. Into The Arena: The World of the Spanish Bullfight, 2011, Profile Books, ISBN 1-84668-335-1 By a British author who trained as a bullfighter.
• García Lorca, Federico (1935). Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías ("Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías").* Ciofalo, John J. "The Artist in the Vicinity of Death". The Self-Portraits of Francisco Goya. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
• Hardouin-Fugier, Elisabeth. Bullfighting: A Troubled History (U. of Chicago Press, 2010); 206 pages, ISBN 978-1-86189-518-9
• Hemingway, Ernest (1932). Death in the Afternoon. 
• Kennedy, A.L. (A. L. Kennedy), On Bullfighting, 2001, Anchor Books, ISBN 0-385-72081-5
• Marvin, Garry, "Bullfight", 1988, University of Illinois Press, ISBN 978-0-252-06437-1
• Ogorzaly, Michael A, When Bulls Cry: The Case Against Bullfighting, 2006, AuthorHouse, ISBN 1-4259-2772-6
• Pink, Sarah, "Women & Bull Fighting", 1997, Berg Publishers, ISBN 1-85973-961-X
• Poon, Wena, "Alex y Robert", Salt Publishing, London, 2010. ISBN 978-1-907773-08-2. Literary novel about a Texan teenage girl training as a matador in contemporary Spain. Also a BBC Radio 4 series.
• Poon, Wena "Novillera", USA, 2013. ISBN 1484134699. Sequel to Alex y Robert, about an American woman bullfighter challenging male-dominated world of Spanish bullring. With black/white photography.
• Rasmussen, Hans C. "The Culture of Bullfighting in Antebellum New Orleans," Louisiana History, 55 (Spring 2014), 133-76.
• Sanders, J.R. (2007). "Dodge City's Grand Bullfight". Wild West Magazine. . Article about the first Mexican bullfight held in the United States, in 1884.
• Tosko, Catherine, The Bull and The Ban, 2012, Suerte Publishing, ISBN 978-1477466872. Account of the bullfighting abolition in Catalonia
• Witwer, Kitty. K., Divine Addiction, 1985, Primate Publishing, ISBN 978-0961528911. Journals from an aficionada in Spain and Latin America, with Barnaby Conrad.
• Wojciechowska, Maia Shadow of a Bull. Book about a bullfighter's son.
• Wood, Tristan. "How To Watch A Bullfight", 2011, Merlin Unwin Books, ISBN 978-1-906122-27-0
• Bullfighter Renounces Killing | PETA.org
• Watch out for the Bull, a comic novel with bullrunning in Feder'Hell as a principle theme

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bullfighting.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Bull-fighting.

• Bullfighting Faq
• CAS International Anti-Bullfighting Organization
• The Last Arena: In Search Of The Spanish Bullfight—Blog and online resource by British author and former bullfighter Alexander Fiske-Harrison
• The Bullfighter and the Lady, a film about an expat American training as a matador.
• Bullfighting Tickets in Spain