A bullfight, called toreo, corrida de toros or tauromaquia in Spanish, is a highly controversial sport. It is about the ritual killing of a fighting bull in front of spectators in a bullring (Plaza de Toros) specially designed for this purpose. If you would like to learn more about the rules of bullfighting, you can find out more here. We have summarized for you what it is about and what the attempt at a ban looks like.
About bullfighting
The most famous bullfights take place in Spain, but there are also bullfights with regionally modified rules in Portugal, southern France and in the former Spanish colonies and the Spanish-influenced regions of Latin America. There is also a non-lethal version on the Tanzanian island of Pemba.
Bullfights in various forms have a long tradition that can be traced back to ancient Rome or the Minoan culture. In the Middle Ages, a kind of corrida de toros developed as a knight’s game. The oldest Spanish reference to bullfights dates from 1215, the oldest prose text from around 1280. Elements of the medieval Corrida are still preserved in the bullfighting variant Rejoneo. Bullfighting as we know it today emerged in the early 18th century and the first stone bullring was built in 1711-1714. In 1796 the matador José Delgado wrote down the rules for bullfighting for the first time, which Spanish bullfighting essentially follows to this day.
Bullfighting in Spain is a billion-dollar business with around 200,000 jobs and annual sales of around 1.5 billion euros. There are over 400 bullfighting arenas with one to two bullfighting events per year organized by 75 corridas organizers.
The bullfighters
The term torero is a generic term for all fighters in a corrida (matador, novillero, banderilleros, picadores). The bullfighters use numerous instruments to tease and kill the bulls. The picadores, for example, got their name from their spears.
The focus is on the “matador de toros” or bull killer, whose career as a novillero (novice) begins with young bulls. After reaching a certain level, a novice becomes a matador de toros in a special ceremony (alternativa, “change”) and from then on fights adult fighting bulls.
The picadores or spearmen are mounted bullfighters and a “corrida de rejones” or “rejoneo” for short is fought entirely on horseback. Here the bull horns have been ground down to avoid injuring the horses.
There are about a hundred students per year for training as a torero, the minimum age is 16 years. In Mexico, torero students are allowed to be younger and there are also female matadors. Toreros are highly paid athletes with fees of 50,000 to 100,000 euros or even 180,000 euros for a performance.
The bulls
Fighting bulls for bullfighting are specially bred. There are around 1500 farms in Spain, mainly in Andalusia, Castile and León and Extremadura. An adult bull can weigh from 500 to 700 kg. A good fighting bull aged four to five years can fetch around 25,000 euros for the breeder. The close-to-nature rearing of fighting bulls in the so-called dehesas (breeding farms) also plays a major role.
It costs around $4,000 to raise a bull, but not all animals become fighting bulls. Animals that are either temperamentally unsuitable or physically flawed are sold either to smaller provincial bullrings or to slaughterhouses.
An arena broodmare only fights once in its life. This is vital for the torero, because only an inexperienced bull is more likely to respond to the muleta, the staff with the red cloth, than to the bullfighter himself.
In Spain there are about 1700 corridas per year with about 6 animals per event. That means the number of bulls killed in an arena amounts to about 10,000 a year.
The bullring
The battlefield or arena (ruedo) is between 45 and 60 meters in diameter. The floor is covered with sand and surrounded by the barrera, a 1.60 meter high wooden plank barrier. This has several gates, usually four: the main gate (puerta grande), a gate for the fighting bulls (puerta de toriles), a gate for the picadores on horseback (puerta de caballos) and there is a special gate through which the dead bulls are brought out to be pulled out (puerta de arrastre). There are also four open passageways with a plank wall (burladero) in front of them. This is used by the bullfighters to flee from the bull. If it is also necessary to jump over the barrera, there are foot bars at a height of 40 centimeters.
The rules of bullfighting
Bullfighting involves specific rules, colorful costumes, music, cheering and flying roses, but also a lot of drama, blood and death. Therefore, the bullfighting ritual is highly controversial nowadays, especially in the context of animal welfare. Usually three matadors and six bulls compete in a corrida and each fight lasts about 20 minutes.
Course of the Corrida
The course of a bullfight is a predetermined ritual that takes place like a play in three acts. A torero can achieve fame and popularity in the bullring, but he also immediately and relentlessly senses the displeasure of the spectators if they don’t like a fight.
In a fight, for example, three toreros compete against two bulls that have been drawn for them. After the drawing of lots, the animals remain in separate, dark boxes in the fighting area until the fight.
First, the bullfighters and their entourage (peones) move into the arena. The fight begins as soon as a bull rushes into the arena. First, the so-called Capeadores tease the animal with a large cloth (capa). The torero with his entourage uses his red and yellow coat to test the bull’s aggressiveness and condition. After that, the first act of the actual fight begins.
The first act
In Act I, two picadores ride into the arena and pierce the animal’s neck an inch with the tips of their lances, weakening the bull and lowering its head. This posture is necessary for the killing blow in the final with the torero’s sword. The first act is particularly dangerous for the horses because, despite the protective padding on their bodies, they can suffer serious internal injuries from the bulls’ attacks.
The second act
The second act introduces the banderilleros (suerte de banderillas). They run up to the bull without protection and jab three pairs of “banderillas” into the muscle in his neck. Banderillas are 75 cm long rods with barbs. This is said to further weaken the animal. The second act lasts only a few minutes.
The third act
In the third act called “suerte de matar” (luck to kill) the matador can show his skills. First with the red cloth, the muleta, and the more daring he goes about it, the better. The fight ends when the matador thrusts his slightly curved thrusting sword (estoque) between the bull’s shoulder blades. If the bull dies immediately, the torero is sure to receive frenetic applause. If this doesn’t succeed, the final act becomes a bloody slaughter, which the bullfighting audience doesn’t like either and acknowledges with boos.
A successful torero receives the bull’s ears, claws or tail tassel as trophies and is celebrated with a lap of honor in the bullring and a shower of flowers.
Subspecies Becerradas
The becerradas are a subspecies of bullfighting. The fight itself is equally cruel and unfair, although young calves up to two years old and young toreros enter the arena.
So to speak, these fights form the training for the prospective toreros.
Bullfighting pros and cons
Bullfighting has also been controversial in Spain for many years. However, there are arguments on both sides that speak for or against bullfighting from their respective perspectives.
The arguments of the proponents
- Bullfighting is an art form
- it is not cruelty to animals because the animals do not suffer long in the arena
- bullfighting ensured the continued existence of the fighting bull race
- and the survival of the ecologically valuable dehesas
- Fighting bulls spend their entire lives in the wild, appropriate to their species
Opponents’ arguments
- Bullfighting is animal cruelty to the bulls (shaving off the horns, locking them up in the dark before the corrida, death in the arena)
- Death does not come quickly, but slowly and painfully – sometimes not directly in the arena but when bleeding out behind the scenes
- Animal cruelty to the picador horses: in addition to the danger in the arena, they are often blindfolded to prevent their natural instinct to flee
- During the hunt, the animals often break their bones and suffer excruciating physical and mental pain
- Risks for the spectators, there are always injuries and even deaths when bulls can overcome the barrera and jump into the audience
- Risks for toreros: although fatalities are rare, serious injuries do occur
- Less and less interest: A Gallup survey shows that 76 percent of Spaniards reject bullfighting and that tourists in particular enjoy it.
Prohibition and modification of the rules of bullfighting
So far, there is only (still) a complete ban on the Canary Islands.
Since 2019, bullfighting in Spain and Mallorca has been allowed to take place again after a two-year break because it has been an “intangible cultural asset” since 2013. This also lifted the ban on injuring and killing, because this was an “inalienable part of the spectacle,” the court ruled.
However, some rules in bullfighting of the old resolution have remained:
- Minors are not allowed in the arena on Fridays
- alcohol ban
- Bulls must be free of doping and tranquilizers
Anyone who wants to speak out against this cruel tradition can do so, among other things, at the animal protection organizations. Boycott bullfighting trips, do not participate in them and ask organizers to remove this offer from the program.
Why hasn’t bullfighting been banned so far?
There have been bans in the past, but these have been lifted. The last problem was general participation in 2007, when the EU parliamentarians did not find enough supporters. Another problem is that by the end of 2013, bullfighting is part of the intangible cultural heritage. This tradition, which unnecessarily costs lives, is thus under legal protection that can hardly be overturned.
Why do bulls react the way they do in bullfights?
Taurus is in a highly stressful situation and in fear of death. Add to that the loud people, the many movements around him and the pain. Some animals also have their testicles bandaged to make them even more aggressive.
How does a bullfight work?
When animal and torero meet, a life-and-death struggle begins. The torero mauls the animal with barbed daggers and spears with the aim of killing it. At the beginning of the fight, to get the bull going, he gets a barb on his neck, which hurts him a lot. Due to the increasing injuries, the animal loses strength because organs are hit instead of the carotid artery. When the bull can’t move anymore, the torero heralds the end and stabs him in the carotid artery.
How long does a bullfight last?
Such an event usually lasts around 20 minutes.
Can the bull win?
No Even if he stays calm in the arena and an exchange occurs, he dies. Then his way leads him to the slaughterhouse. Should the audience wish for a “pardon”, the animal stays alive and is used for breeding purposes – although this happens very rarely.
Which bulls participate in bullfighting?
Special breeds are bred for bullfighting, which are considered particularly aggressive. The generic term is called “Spanish fighting bull”, but includes several breeds.
When did bullfighting start?
Bullfighting in Spain has origins as early as 711 AD, when a bullfight took place to honor King Alfonso VIII.
Where did bullfighting originate?
Francisco Romero, from Ronda, Spain, is generally regarded as having been the first to introduce the practice of fighting bulls on foot around 1726, using the muleta in the last stage of the fight and an estoc to kill the bull.
Is bullfighting a sport?
Bullfighting is a traditional bloodsport that is thought to have existed in Spain since Roman times. The sport has evolved and varied over time and, today, bullfighting typically involves a professional performer (known in Spain as toreros or matadors) ceremoniously fighting a bull in a sand bullring.
Where can i see a bullfight when im in spain?
With a capacity of 12,000+ spectators, it is considered the most traditional bullring in Spain with aficionados naming it “la catedral del toreo” (“the bullfighting cathedral”).
Where is bullfighting legal?
Although legal in Spain, some Spanish cities, such as Calonge, Tossa de Mar, Vilamacolum and La Vajol, have outlawed the practice of bullfighting. There are only a few countries throughout the world where this practice still takes place (Spain, France, Portugal, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador).
Is bullfighting legal in the us?
Bullfighting as it is practiced in Spain and Mexico, in which the bull is killed at the finale, is outlawed in the United States. California banned bullfighting of any kind in 1957, but after lobbying by citizens in Gustine, the site of the state’s oldest and largest bullring, lawmakers eventually permitted Portuguese.
