My First Spanish Bullfight Experience

A couple weeks ago, Brittany, Lindsey, Megan, Cassie, and I spontaneously bought tickets to go see a bullfight one saturday evening!  On our way to the stadium, there was a long line of protestors down the street.  They were for animal rights and were saying how wrong bullfights are.  We picked a perfect day to go!

It was like the Spanish version of a baseball game.  It was an entire stadium with designated seats and security to help you find your seat.  There were people outside selling food, drinks, seat cushions, brochures, and inside there were concession stands.  There were a mix of Spaniards dressed up suits and ties while others were in jeans and a button-down shirt.  Although it felt like a baseball game, this game involved killing animals...

Luckily I knew what to expect from watching a video in my Spanish Culture & Civilization class.  The video pretty much showed everything that takes place in a bullfight all rolled up into 5 minutes.  It showed the stabbing, the gushing blood, everything.  My friends were a little taken back by what we saw.  The part I was shocked about was seeing a group of horses pull away the dead body of the bull.  They made such a show out of killing an animal!

In a 2 1/2 hour period, we watched 5 bulls get teased by many different bullfighters around the arena.  But only 4 were killed!  We were actually fortunate enough to watch a bull get saved, which apparently hasn't happened in decades!  When the audience thinks a bull does a good job at performing, they will wave white flags (or anything) to show that they think the bull should not be killed but rather saved to perform again.  One bull was very good and the audience loved him so they waved their white flags and he was saved :)

Overall, the bullfight was definitely an interesting experience.  I think I like it for the most part.  It was interesting to see how this is sort of like the Spaniard's baseball game in a sense.  They go to these things fairly often and get a lot of enjoyment out of it.  I'm very indifferent to the killing of the bull.  In a way, it's like, we just kill cows in a slaughter house, so at least here we make a show out of it, right?  And they use every  part of the bull.  Bullfights are definitely an acquired taste.

The man on horseback comes around and stabs the bulls back.

The audience waving the white flags to save the bull!