Bullfight

Steve has always wanted to see a bullfight, and what better place to see one than Madrid! The bull fighting stadium is a mere 10 minute walk from our hostal- and we went for the Sunday event. I expected to see some PETA action outside the gates but there was not a protester in sight (got to go to the Cloverdale rodeo for that too!) The stadium was beautiful inside and out. There were huge line ups to get tickets...so when the scalpers came up to us Steve was all excited and I got mad- we don’t know if scalping is legal in Spain and I wasn’t about to find out. Also, the tix were in spanish- so how would we know if they were still valid or even real? We stood in line. We upgraded to sit in the second section and in the shade- well worth the 5euros! It was exciting when the first bull came out...we read up on some bull fighting prior to the show. During an event there are 3 teams (troupes?) that kill 2 bulls, most experienced matador/team goes first. Each team has members that play different roles. Stop reading if you love bulls (Jeremy, Nuria)

Here is how it goes:

-Bull runs out- angry bull- lookin to cause some damage.

-Team of 4 come out to test the bulls strength/demeanor 

-Horns blow

-Horseman comes out with javalon type spear

-When the bull charges the horse the rider jabs the bull with the spear in the neck- this will happen twice -sometimes the bull would lift the horse right off the ground! The horse was soo well trained and blindfolded that it just took that bull’s shit (hahahaha)

-Horns blow 

-The dart jabber guys come out. The matador (gold costume) appears to direct the bull while the jabbers run up to it and plunge sharp sticks into the neck of the bull

-Horns blow

-Matador takes off his hat and gets his red cape and sword (not the killing sword)- he assess the bulls strength after the running/charging/blood loss. The matador is a performer and there is alot of showmanship- he gyrates and poses- he makes noises and shuffles around- he flicks his head- its like a theatre act. 

-Matador changes swords 

-When the bull is in position (head lowered due to exhaustion from massive blood loss and soft tissue damage from being jabbered) the matador aims and thrusts his sword all the way into the bulls neck- it is supposed to hit the bulls heart. 

-Three donkeys come and drag the bull away

-Butcher buys bull but we don’t know where his shop is- only see ham. 

Now, we are rookie bull fight watching tourists and didn’t know and still don’t know the details of the show...however, we learned what a good fight is vs. a not so good fight. One matador could not kill the bull- it was horrible, he kept trying to get the sword in, at one point it went in but the tip came out the side of the bull! Poor bull. It took about ten minutes for the matador to kill the bull- the crowd was yelling. We saw this same matador in his second fight get his butt kicked by the bull- he got some big air and a horn on the backside! It appears that when the matador bites the dust he does a roll move- similar to stop drop and roll- just more rolling or you get trampled by the bull. The experienced matador would wave his cape to the bull while kneeling! It was an interesting event, it is what it is...6 bulls slowly put to death...tortured. Would I recommend seeing this- yes, would I go again- no.