One of Madrid's tourist attractions is the bullfighting ring, Las Ventas. It is Spain's biggest bullfighting ring and the reputed home of bullfighting. While we don't condone the killing of animals as a sport, bullfighting is a part of Spain's culture (well, parts of Spain anyway). We decided to take to take a tour of the bullring to learn more about bullfighting and also to have a closer look at arena itself.



The bullring is a big red brick arena designed in the Neo-Mudejar style. It's called Las Ventas —The Windows— because of the windows that encircle the building. These windows are the form of horseshoe arches and are decorated with colourful tiles. It's quite a striking building.

Our guide gave a tour of the arena describing all the different areas and what happens during a bullfight. I was impressed as he delivered his descriptions firstly in Spanish, then English and then French. These multi-lingual people still amaze us.



A Spanish bullfight runs as follows:

• In a traditional bullfight, three matadors fight two bulls each. The bulls are at least four years old and weigh between 460 - 600 kg.
  
  
• Each matador has 6 assistants - two picadores (lancers) on horseback, three banderilleros (flagman) and a mozo de espada (sword page).
  
  
• The picador enters the ring on horseback and aims to stab the bull in the neck with the lance. If the picador is successful the bull is injured and will hold its head and horns lower during the following stages. This makes it less dangerous for the matador.
  
  
• The banderilleros then enter the ring and attempt to place sharp barbed sticks in the bulls flank as close as possible to where the picador stabbed the bull. These further weaken the bull's shoulders and neck muscles and cause further loss of blood.
  
  
• The matador then enters the ring alone with his sword and cape. He will use his cape to attract the bull and perform a series of passes which will manoeuvre the bull into a position where he can stab it through the shoulder blades and into the heart.
  
  
• If the matador is judged to have fought particularly well, he will be awarded the ears and the tail of the vanquished bull.

You've gotta feel sorry for the poor bull. Supporters of bullfighting say that they see the bull as a worthy adversary, deserving of respect. However, it seems little respect is shown to the bull in the ring. They are tortured and exhausted until it is safe enough for the matador to face the bull. Then they are killed. A Bullfighting guide warns those attending bull fights to "be prepared to witness various failed attempts at killing the animal before it lies down."

And yet, it is still a part of Madrid's culture. While we were at the arena there was a line of people queuing up to buy tickets to the next bullfight. Around the arena there were posters on the walls of present-day bullfighters. These posters looked like posters teenage girls might post on their bedroom walls. (One bullfighter was grinning triumphantly, holding up the ears of a bull.)


You might be happy to know, that sometimes the bulls get their own back. Bullfighting is still a dangerous sport for matadors. Many matadors have died after being gored by a bull. In the bullfighting museum at the arena, several uniforms of matadors who have been killed are on display. Some of the uniforms still showed the blood stains from the wounds. Apparently the Spanish have a taste for the morbid.

After our tour of Las Ventas, I decided that I wasn't keen to see a bullfight and didn't agree with it as a sport. A 2002 poll found that 70% of Spaniards expressed no interest in bullfighting. The older generation seem the keenest, with 50% of those over 65 interested in bullfighting. Maybe it's a dying cultural tradition. Let's hope so.

More photos on Flickr.

Our visit to Las Ventas was part of Tapas Travels: The Wilsons + Daleys do Spain. Mum, Dad, Andrew and I did a 3-week road trip around Spain with a few days tacked on in Portugal at the end of the journey. Other entries from this trip include: Toledo, Wouldn't it be nice if the world was Gaudi?, La Mezquita, The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone, La Sagrada Família.