Spanish-style bullfighting is a type of bullfighting that is practiced in several Spanish-speaking countries: Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, as well as in parts of southern France and Portugal. In Colombia it has been outlawed but is being phased out with a full ban coming in effect in 2027. This style of bullfighting involves a physical contest with humans (and other animals) attempting to publicly subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull. The most common bull used is the Spanish Fighting Bull (Toro Bravo), a type of cattle native to the Iberian Peninsula. This style of bullfighting is seen to be both a sport and performance art. The red colour of the cape is a matter of tradition—bulls are color blind. They attack moving objects; the brightly colored cape is used to mask blood stains.
In a traditional corrida, three toreros (or matadores) each fight against two out of a total of six fighting bulls to death, each bull being at least four years old and weighing up to about with a minimum weight limit of . Bullfighting season in Spain runs from March to October. The practice is also known as a corrida de toros ("bull-running"), toreo or tauromaquia (English: tauromachy). Since the late 1980s, bullfighting in Spain has declined in popularity due to animal welfare concerns, its association with blood sport, and its links to nationalism.
History
Pre-Roman Most historians trace festivities involving bulls to prehistoric times, as a trend that once extended through the entire Mediterranean coast and has just survived in Iberia and part of France. Early bullfights had a high mortality rate. Alejandro Recio, a Spanish historian, considers the Neolithic city of Konya, Turkey, discovered by James Mellaart in 1958, as evidence of sacrificial tauromaquia associated with traditional rituals. This claim is based on the abundance of representations of bulls, as well as on the preservation of horns and bullheads attached to walls. Since then various archeological findings have proven the uninterrupted importance of the bull as a symbol of the sun for the Iberian cults, like the presence of berracos (known in Portuguese as berrão), or the importance of the bull in the surviving Celtiberian and Celtic rituals that continued into the 21st century. These pre-Roman religions centered on the ritual sacrifice of sacred animals through direct or symbolic combat and was a likely motive for the depiction of bulls.(1999) “Cosmogonía védica del numantino Vaso de Los Toros”, en Revista de Soria nº25, Diputación Provincial de Soria
Roman Bullrings are believed to originate their bullfighting tradition from Roman gladiator games. During Roman Hispania gladiators were forced to fight animals by sword, such as bulls, bears, and wolves. The Romans tried to abolish and ban the "puere" practice of bullfighting, considering it was too risky for the youth and not a proper way to worship the state deities.Lorrio Alvarado, A. y Olivares Pedreño, J.C. (2004): “Imagen y simbolismo del toro en la Hispania céltica”, en Revista de Estudios Taurinos n.º 18, Sevilla
Spanish According to Frommer's Travel Guide, bullfighting in Spain traces its origins to 711 AD, with the first official bullfight, or corrida de toros, being held in honor of the coronation of King Alfonso VIII. Once part of the Roman Empire, Spain owes its bullfighting tradition in part to gladiator games. At first, bullfighting was done on horseback and was reserved for Spanish aristocracy.
Arab prohibition During the Arab rule of Iberia, the ruling class tried to ban the practice of bullfighting, considering it a pagan celebration and heresy. Bullfighting was illegal in all Arab territory but became a mark of identity and resistance for Christian Iberians, especially for the nobility that started using it as a way to gain prestige. At first, bullfighting was done on horseback and was reserved for Spanish aristocracy; in contests the "fighters" were referred to as rejoneadores.
Catholic excommunication
In the 16th century Pope Pius V banned bullfighting for its ties to paganism and for the danger it posed to the participants. Anyone who would sponsor, watch or participate in a bullfight was to be excommunicated by the Church. Spanish and Portuguese bullfighters kept the tradition alive covertly, and his successor, Pope Gregory XIII, took efforts to relax this penalty.EXCOMUNIÓN A PERPETUIDAD San Pío V: Bula «DE SALUTIS GREGIS DOMINICI» (1567) «Bullarum Diplomatum et Privilegiorum Sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum Taurinensis editio», Vol VII, Augustae Taurinorum 1862, pages 630-631 Pope Gregory advised bullfighters to not use the sport as way to honor Jesus Christ or the Saints, as was typical in Spain and Portugal.
The Bourbons King Philip V, the first King of Spain of Bourbon descent, ended bullfighting in the country because he believed it was in poor taste for nobles to practice such a bloody sport. The change in bullfighting standards ran parallel to the discontent of the foreign rule of the Bourbons, and their lack of interest in understanding the politics, economics or culture of their new kingdom culminated in the Esquilache Riots of 1766. New forms of bullfighting continued to develop as decrees against the activity proved largely ineffective. After growing in popularity in Spain, King Charles III attempted to ban bullfighting in 1771. He attempted to reduce the social tension by building two of the eldest and largest bullfighting rings in Madrid as part of an offensive to fix the resentment some nobles and other powerful groups held towards the Crown's authority and actions. King Charles IV attempted to formally ban the sport again after his predecessor made concessions. King Joseph Bonaparte reversed this decision by hosting a bullfight during his coronation in 1808.
Joaquín Rodríguez Costillares
Costillares (1743–1800) was a Spanish bullfighter from Seville who has been credited with founding modern Spanish-style bullfighting. He established the "cuadrillas tradition" where teams of two or three banderilleros and two picadores taunt the bull. He also organized the tercios de lidia ("thirds of fight") borrowed from the theatre; invented the Veronica and other basic cape movements as well as the current traje de luces ("suit of light"); and created the cape maneuvers (muleta), typical in this style of bullfighting since the 19th century.
Participants Each matador has six assistants: two picadores ("lancers") mounted on horseback, three banderilleros ("flagmen"), and a mozo de espada ("lad of the swords"). Collectively they compose a cuadrilla or team of bullfighters. The crew also includes an ayuda (aide to sword servant) and subalternos (subordinates) including at least two peones (pages, singular peón).
Parts of a bullfight
The modern Spanish-style bullfight (, "run") is highly standardized, with three distinct parts (, "thirds"), the start of each of which is announced by a trumpet sound. The participants first enter the arena in a parade () to salute the presiding dignitary (), usually accompanied by band music. The corrida begins to the tune of live-played pasodobles, many of which were composed to honour famous . costumes are influenced by 17th-century Andalusian clothing. Matadors are distinguished by a "suit of lights" (traje de luces), custom-made and embroidered with silver or golden thread.
The bull then enters the ring to be tested for aggressiveness by the matador and with the magenta and gold (dress cape). Bulls are raised on the open range by specialist breeding estates called . The bull enters the arena with a rosette on its back bearing the colors of the estate of its origin.
Stage 1:
The first stage is called the ("third of lances"). The matador observes how the bull reacts to the waving of the banderilleros cloaks. They also note vision problems, unusual head movements, or if the bull favors a part of the ring called a (territory). A bull trying to reach its is often more dangerous than a bull that is attacking the cape directly. The initial attack by the matador is called the ("act of the cape"), and there are a number of fundamental (or passes) that matadors make; the most common being the (named after Saint Veronica), which is the act of a matador letting the cloak trail over the bull's head as it runs past.
Then two picadors enter the arena, each armed with a lance () and mounted on a large heavily-padded and blindfolded horse. The entrance of the horses attracts the bull to the picadors. The picadors repeatedly drive their lances into the muscles () of the bull's neck to weaken the animal. As a picador stabs the bull's neck, the bull charges and attempts to lift the picador's horse. If the picadors are successful, the bull will hold its head and horns lower as a result of injury and weakness during the following stages of the fight. This makes the bull less dangerous to enable the matador to perform the passes of modern bullfighting. In a mandatory step in the , regulations require that a judge ensures a certain number of hits are made before it is considered completed.
Stage 2:
In the next stage—the ("third of small flag")—the matador attempts to plant two barbed or dart-like sticks known as ("little flags") onto the bull's shoulders. These weaken the ridges of neck and shoulder muscle (which set fighting bulls apart from cattle) through loss of blood, while also spurring the bull into making more aggressive charges. By this point the bull has lost a significant amount of blood, exhausting the animal. The matador then enters with his cape and sword, attempting to tire the bull further with several runs at the cape.
The matadors place the around the bull. If the presidente decides that the bull is relatively weak or unwilling to fight, they may order the use of black banderillas, considered to be a poor reflection on the breeder.
Stage 3:
In the third and final stage—the ("third of death")—the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape or in one hand and a sword () in the other. This cape is stretched with a wooden dowel and, in right-handed passes, the sword as well. Having dedicated the bull to an individual or the whole audience, the matador uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes, demonstrating his control over it. The red colour of the cape is a matter of tradition—bulls are color blind. The movement of the cape is what irritates bulls; the colour by itself has the purpose of masking blood stains.
The is the entire performance combined with the , which is usually broken down into a series of (episodes). A typical tanda consists of three to five basic passes and then the finishing touch (), such as a , or . Well-received passes are celebrated by the audience with shouts of "¡ole!". The ends with a final series of passes in which the matador with a attempts to manoeuvre the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart. The entire part of the bullfight with the is called the ("third of death") or ("act of muleta").