Other Features

Goatman of Compéta
Modern day Che
Al Andalus
Food for Christmas
Something About Mary
Bottom Trawling
Postman Paco
Renewable Energies
Hippies from Outer Space
Zapatero - first 100 days
Calender Girls
Learn Spanish

Many still claim it as one of the oldest and most dignified traditions, but is Spain turning its back on bullfighting?

No one can say for sure when the national Spanish spectacle of bullfighting started. What is true is that this it has existed in different forms since prehistory. At the palace of Knossos in ancient Crete a wall painting dating from 200 BC shows men and women confronting a bull, grabbing its horns and vaulting over it as it charges. Bullfights were popular spectacles in ancient Rome, but it was in the Iberian Peninsula that these contests were fully developed. The Moors from North Africa who overran Andalusia in AD 711 changed bullfighting significantly from the formless spectacle practiced by the Visigoths two centuries earlier when young men merely taunted bulls to prove their courage, or perhaps stupidity, to a ritualistic occasion observed in connection with feast days. They developed the style known as the Rejoneando, where highly trained horsemen confronted and killed the bulls. They soon found that the Iberian breed was particularly brave and would die fighting rather than flee.

As bullfighting developed, men on foot aided the horsemen and kept the crowds captive by manoeuvring the bull around the ring. The modern Corrida had begun to take form and is much the same today as it has been since 1726 when Francisco Romero of Ronda introduced, among other things, the muleta (the red cloth with stick inserted) and the “estoque” (sword) His son Juan then went on to develop the concept of the “cuadrilla”, (bullfighting team), but it was his son Pedro that really took bullfighting to a different level and is considered the first matador to conceive of the bullfight as an art and a skill in its own right, and not simply a macho preamble to the bull’s slaughter. Bullfighting moved from being a mere sport to a cultural event and as such, the European Union has declared it a protected activity under the heading of national culture, supporting it with tourist euros and subsidising bull-breeding farms.

We spoke to expert Daniel Rojo who hosts a bullfighting programme on local TV channel Velevisa in Velez Malaga.
“I became fond of the “toros” when I was little. Like many other children I wanted to be a bullfighter myself so I started at a bullfighting school but left when I realised what a difficult world it is. There are always many vested interests when millions of euros are at stake. I started writing chronicles for newspapers and then, a year ago, I began the programme on television so that fans of bullfighting can have their own space to debate. Velez Malaga, had three bullrings in the past, but there isn’t one now. That is why from we are supporting a platform of citizens who are petitioning the town hall for a bullring. So far we have over five thousand signatures. All the villages between Malaga and Algeciras have their own bullring, but this is not the case on the eastern coast where there are no “arenas” from Malaga to Motril. It’s not fair when so many people love this tradition. From a meeting we had recently with Mayor Antonio Souviron, we learned that the local council is an interested party as it would bring in revenue. However, this is not something that can be done overnight. Mr. Souvirón has said that in order to build the ring there would have to be a public bidding of businessmen interested in supporting it”.

What about those who see it merely as an outdated and cruel sport?
“I cannot see any cruelty, since the toro bravo (brave bull) has been born to die in the ring, although I know this is something which is not shared by those who are against it. The “toro bravo” comes from a special breeding, which has been preserved from ancient times. The bull is born on our lands and lives there in relative freedom for five years. Bullfighting is an art, but this is something that the anti-bullfighting person cannot understand so it becomes a dialogue amongst deaf people.
Most of the times the winner is the “torero” but there are the odd occasions that the battle is won by the bull if he has shown exceptional bravery and the crowd petitions the President of the bullring to give the bull a pardon (an indult) so he lives and is not killed at the end.

Does the matador suit have any special meaning?
The “traje de luces” (suit of lights) as it is known is not very comfortable and almost fifteen kilos, largely because of the gold- embroidered silk jacket. Each matador must have about six complete suits each season and the colours chosen are mainly red, black or green, but never yellow since it is considered to be unlucky and matadors are normally superstitious. White shirt, black tie, red girdle, stockings and ballet type slippers complete the costume.

Who is the man on the horse?
The picador, who goads the bull with a long pike and lessens the energy of the animal after it enters the arena. Although it’s an important character in the “corrida” it may disappear within time.

A number of international groups such as the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), the Anti-Bullfighting Campaign (ABC) and the Asociación Defensa Derechos Animal (ADDA) have adopted aggressive campaigns.

For the first time in Spanish history proposed new law to ban bullfighting was introduced in the Catalan Parliament last November. This followed the results of an opinion poll revealing that an overwhelming ninety-four percent agree that the torture and suffering of animals in entertainment should be stopped. In addition, more than eighty percent agree that bullfights are unjustified and cruel, and over seventy-seven percent agree with the decision of Barcelona earlier in the year to declare itself an ‘anti-bullfight’ city. Since then, other Spanish towns have declared themselves anti-bullfighting, including Tossa del Mar, Torello, Calladeteno, and Olot, which has the second oldest ring in Spain. Leah Garcés, WSPA’s Director of Campaigns, said, “I am very hopeful that the Catalan Parliament will prove itself to be modern and enlightened by following Barcelona City Council’s decision to denounce bullfighting. We urge the Catalan Parliament to pass a law against bullfighting in Catalonia which will set a compassionate precedent to the rest of Spain.” To date, WSPA and ADDA’s ‘Culture without Cruelty’ campaign has received over a quarter of a million signatures from around the world in support of an end to bullfighting. Sir Paul McCartney is among the celebrity supporters of the campaign.

“ I went to see a bullfight when I was a boy and didn’t enjoy it one bit. After it was over, the most overwhelming memory was the stench of the dead animals, which I’ve never forgotten to this day. Although we haven’t had a bullring in Nerja for a long time now, I remember in the discos they used to bring in a young bull for people to taunt. It was just plain cruel and I became actively involved in a campaign to stop these activities and bullfighting in Nerja. We organised demonstrations outside the Town Hall, got the tourists involved and collected thousands of signatures. When the town hall realised that bullfighting wasn’t benefiting tourism, they stopped it. I don’t see any point in it and its not part of my culture”.
Franscisco Galvez Gallardo, a campaigner from Nerja.

A spokesman at the Town Hall told us that Nerja has been an anti bullfighting town for some time now and the council will never finance a fight here, although private companies can.