Bullfighting in Spain

The corrida de toros, the bullfight, is one of the most fundamental manifestations of Spanish folklore and mentality, something both more and less than an entertainment. All large cities and every southern city of 'any size boasts its own ring, or plaza de toros. Fights take place on feast days, and especially on the holidays (ferias) which are generally important religious occasions; however, in big towns they happen every Sunday during the season. They follow a very exact ceremonial which is the fruit of an age old tradition and a historical process which, as far as modern bullfighting is concerned, has its origins in the first half of the 18th century.

The great bullfighters of the golden age (which began in the second half of the 18th century), such as Joselito, El Gallo and Juan Belmonte, transformed bullfighting into a spectacle of enormous technical, aesthetic and spiritual value. Bullfighting reached its peak of perfection about 1930: thereafter there set in a phase of slow but continual decline.

Interest in these spectacles is nowadays less keen than it used to be: other forms of mass entertainment such as soccer are drawing an increasing number of young people away from the plaza de toros. Nevertheless, the bullfight remains a spectacle of enormous importance in the history of Spanish customs, and will continue to be so for a long time to come.

The protagonists in this drama are three: the bull, the torero, and the crowded bullring.

THE BULL

The bull is a savage animal, rather lean, extremely tough and endowed with extraordinary vitality. Bulls intended for the ring are wild animals, brought up on vast plains as if they were at liberty, and their contact with man is reduced to the absolute minimum.

They have a very tough skin covered with glistening hair, a small head but a broad forehead, powerful horns that curve forward, a short and thick neck with a great knot of muscles that swells and heaves when they become infuriated, broad shoulders, very small hooves and a long and thin tail. They fear nothing in the world, and they attack unhesitatingly anything, man or beast, that appears to be challenging them. Starting from rest, a fighting bull can outstrip a horse in eighty feet; it can then turn and face the horse with the rapidity of a cat, and pick up horse and rider withits horns and throw them over its shoulder.

Furthermore, it fights not only because it sees it as the way to escape danger, but because it loves combat. Its courage at the moment of battle is extraordinary; yet when it is not fighting it is the quietest and mildest animal in the world. A bull may never take part in more than one fight because it learns every trick of the torero so quickly that it could literally become mortally dangerous to man.

The age of a fighting bull varies between four and seven years. For novilladas, fights with young bulls (novillos) the age must be between three and six; and in those novilladas where there is no picador, bulls of over four are not admitted.

In the course of one performance several bulls (usually six) are killed: and there are either two or more bullfighters. In the course of one season about ten thousand bulls lose their lives. The price of a fighting bull is about $1100 or more.

THE T0RERO'

All those who enter the ring to fight bulls have the right to the title of torero. (The term toreador, made fashionable by a song from Bizet's Carmen, is never used in Spain except facetiously.) But toreros are divided into espadas, or matadors (who kill the bulls with an espadaa sword), picadors, who fight the bull armed with lances, and banderilleros, who are armed with banderillas (barbed darts). These men form a set called a cuadrilla, which is generally composed of one matador, two picadors and three banderilleros.

The matador is the most important man: he directs the fight, faces the bull and kills it. It is his timing which enables a great torero never to hurry and never to run in the presence of the bull. A torero's career reaches its summit with the ceremony in which he is crowned as a matador de toros in the course of a fight at the plaza in Madrid.

THE RING

There are 410 plazas de toros in Spain, of which about thirty hold over ten thousand people. The Plaza Monumental in Madrid can seat 23,000, and the one at Barcelona 19,582. For good fights a full house is generally the rule.

THE BULLThe public seats lie beyond the barrera which marks off the circular ring, or ruedo. The barrera is a real barrier, a double wooden fence painted red, five foot three inches high on the ring side and four footone inch on the public side, in between is a passage about five feet wide. This passage is the preserve of the sword bearers with the jugs of water, sponges and muletas (red flags on staffs) which are used at the final stage of the fight, of the ringboys and the vendors of iced beer, fruit, cakes and salted almonds; here also stand the police and the toreros who are not fighting, and the photographers and doctors. Above the barrera stand the tendidos, the numbered seats, the cheaper ones in the sun, the dearer in the shade.

Other buildings are also attached to the ring, communicating directly with it, notably the toril, which is the enclosure where the bulls are taken on foot the night before the fight, between two and four in the morning. In this enclosure they await the moment when they enter the ring. Then there are yards for the horses and the cuadrillas, the infirmary and the chapel where the torero retires to pray before going out to face the bull.

All the phases of the performance are directed by a president, who sits in a reserved box attended by several advisers. He indicates his instructions by means of flags of various colors which he waves at appropriate moments.

THE BEGINNING OF THE FIGHT

The ring is opened by two a1guaciles, mounted and dressed in clothes of the time of Philip 11. These are the delegates of the president, and it is their duty to receive and transmit his orders to the toreros. After saluting the authorities they take the head of the procession of cuadrillas. The band plays a paso doble or a blaring march; then, in the first line behind the caracoling a1guaciles, the matadors advance, on foot. In three lines behind them follow the banderilleros, the picadors, mounted, and the teams of mules whose duty it will be to drag the dead bulls from the ring; finally come the attendants. This procession, with all its colors sparkling in the sunlight, is one of the most beautiful parts of the performance.

With supreme elegance, the toreros wear the traie de luces (the costume of lights), their traditional dress. An artistically decorated cloak is thrown over the torero's shoulders, though he will take this off at the beginning of the fight and take up the capa with which he will rouse the bull to fight. This capa (cape) is cherrycolored on the outside and yellow on the inside, and it is heavy and stiff.

The toreros' clothes are beautiful and rich, of the finest silk, embroidered with gold and silver and covered with tassels and loops. A large part of the beauty of the spectacle is due to the richness of these colors and the elegance of the toreros.

The little procession crosses the ring toward the president; the men bow, and then each takes up his position. One of the two a1guaciles receives from the president the key of the gate to the toril, and hands it to the man responsible for the corner of the toril where the bull is waiting. The gate is thrown open. Excited and impatient, at the height of his physical and nervous strength, the bull bursts out amid the cries of the crowd into the sun filled ring.

He must be killed in a period of about twenty minutes. To this end the fight must be conducted with a particular strategy, with the aim of slowly and gradually exhausting the animal.

THE THREE 'TERCIOS' OF THE FIGHT

The fight is divided into three(" clearly differentiated parts called tercios, which correspond to the three physical states through which the bull passes: levantado, parado and aplomado. The first tercio is occupied by the lances, the second by the banderillas and the third is the turn of the sword.

In the first tercio, when the bull's strength is at its height, the animal proves its own qualities its fierceness, its cunning, the speed of its reflexes, the power of its charges. It holds its head high (levantado) and attacks unhesitatingly everything it sees. At this stage the bull is less dangerous, because it is not concentrating on the target and it has complete faith in its own strength. For the time being the torero can risk movements which later on would amount practically to suicide for every move, even when the bull is weakening, teaches it something.

After its encounter with the picadors it is beginning to weaken but becoming more careful and slowing down its pace (toro parado). It charges with greater accuracy, and moves off with a spring; and if it is brave it gives the man an opportunity to fight in the most brilliant way, since its movements are the more accurate and controlled

.

The name of the final stage through which the bull passes before being killed is aplomado. It is dulled and short of breath; but though it has lost its speed it is still in possession of all its strength. It is now extremely dangerous, for as well as being incensed with the matador, it has also learned that in order to hit him it is not enough to run straight at him; it charges closer every time, which forces the man to run very great risks.

It is extremely important that the bull should reach this stage properly prepared: the great muscles of its neck must be weakened by the points of the lances and the banderillas, as well as by high movements of the cape, so that now it holds its head neither too high nor too low; its speed must be reduced; it must be capable of concentrating on one small target without worrying about others. Thus it must arrive slowly but intact at the final moment.Indeed it is toward this moment that all the earlier stages of the fight have been tending. First are passes of the cape intended to test the fighting qualities of the bull, its possible defects and its peculiarities, such as a preference for attacking with the right horn rather than the left. Then comes the tercio of the lances, which is necessary to rouse the bull and give it an enemy to overcome: the brunt of this is born by the picadors! unfortunate horses, which the bull can charge with savage joy and also with success, so that it may conclude that its charges will always serve some purpose.

This will encourage it to continue attacking determinedly even during the last stage of the fight. The torero will thus be able to prove his courage and his technical skill by executing a whole series of passes with cape and muleta and maintaining control over the animal until the last moment.

THE FIRST TERCIO'

In theory the bull should be wounded by the pica at the very beginning of the fight. In practice, however, some passes with the capa are executed first to make it run and attack. It is not until then that the picadors' work begins. They ride horses specially trained to go sideways and backwards; they have to be very quick to respond to the commands of their riders. They are blindfolded, and protected against the horns by special padding: without it the bull would be able to get at the horse, lift it up on its horns and kill it. On the other hand, the violence of the impact when the bull strikes the padding can very easily cause both horse and rider to fall down.

The picador is armed with a lance called a pica. It is about eightand one half feet long and has an extremely sharp triangular steel point.

In the sand on the floor of the ring is drawn a circle, whose center is that of the ring itself and whose radius is about two thirds of that of the whole. The picador may not go outside this line, and he has to see that the bull always attacks him from the horse's right. The horse's right eye being blindfolded, it thus cannot see when an attack is coming. Just when the bull is about to collide with horse and rider the picador has to strike it adroitly in the shoulder. The picador's task is to wear out the bull's neck muscles so that it holds its head low' when charging and at the same time to make it more and more belligerent.

THE 'BANDERILLERO' AND THE MATADOR

Thus ends the first phase of the fight: now begins the second, where the banderillas come into their own. From now on all the toreros will be fighting on foot. The banderillas are a pair of small straight spears of hard wood, wrapped in colored paper, with a shaft twenty seven inches long and a barbed iron point which ensures that once the banderilla (which means "small flag") is implanted in the bull it cannot come out again.

The handerillero's action is swift and very elegant. Every bull must be stuck by three pairs of banderillas. The task of throwing the handerillas is generally allotted to the handerilleros who work in pairs. If the bull succeeds in executing three passes without a forces's implanting his banderillas, he loses his place and gives way to his colleague.

The favorite system is for the banderillero to stand in the center of the ring with a banderilla in each hand and to incite the bull to attack him; when it has begun to do so he runs to his right, thus making the bull swerve; he then runs toward the harrera, passing the bull coming from the opposite direction. At the moment when his path cuts that of the animal he brings his feet together, rapidly lifts his arms, plants his banderillas and escapes toward the barrera while the bull returns to its own place near the center.

The banderilla work is sometimes done by the matador, provided that he possesses sufficient physical and athletic prowess which is not strictly necessary for working the bull with the cape and muleta or for killing it with the sword.

E `TERCIO DE LA MUERTE'

The third phase of the fight is called the tercio de la muerte. This is a solemn and dramatic period, that is to end in the "moment of truth"; for the entire time the torero, is completely on his own, isolated, on equal terms with the bull.

The death of the first bull must be consecrated to the president of the fight; the torero, with head bared and his montera (hat) in his right hand, dedicates the bull in the ceremony called the brindis, at the end of which the torero, throws his hat over his shoulder. The bull may then also be dedicated to the general public by throwing the montera either into the ring or to an individual spectator. Then the matador begins the faena which leads up to the final sword thrust. This faena is a series of passes that are performed, this time, with the muleta instead of the cape.

The muleta is a heart shaped cloth of red flannel folded and wrapped round a tapered stick which has a sharp steel point at the thin end and a handle at the other. The muleta serves to defend the man, to tire the bull, to make it carry out a series of movements and finally to make it keep its head down while it is being killed.

The faena de muleta may consist of three kinds of figures: naturales, cambiados and ayudados. For naturales the matador stands, as when working with the cape, in front of the bull, generally holding the muleta in his left hand. He arouses the bull, stands firm waiting for it, slows it down with gentle movements of the muleta and controls its attack. The figure that completes the series may be performed either from above or below, and every movement is subject to elegant variations and fanciful embellishments, called adornos, such as when the torero kneels down in front of the bull or caresses its horns. If the torero makes the bull pass on the opposite side from the hand holding the niuleta, the figure is called a cambiado. If he spreads the muleta out along his sword, this is called an ayudado.

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

This part of the bullfight must not last too long, because the bull would become exhausted after a certain point. The bull has to be made to stand motionless, firmly planted on its four feet: this action is called cuadrar, to "square" the bull. The 46moment of truth" cannot be delayed. If the matador has not killed the bull ten minutes afterfirst taking up the sword and muleta he receives a first warning, delivered by a blare of trumpets. A second warning follows after three minutes. After a further two minutes the third warning is given: the matador retires and the oxen are brought on to lead the bull back to the corral.

But generally things work out as intended. The matador raises his sword above the muleta and prepares to "cross": that is to say, to place his left arm beneath his right and perpendicular to it (so as to divert by means of the material of the muleta any possible attack by the bull's horns); then, in his turn, the man attacks the bull. Alternatively, he waits for the bull to attack him and to run, so to speak, at the point of the sword.

A good sword thrust should fall like a thunderbolt and strike the bull to the left of the vertebral column at the point where it meets the line of the shoulder. The sword must go straight in at an angle of fortyfive degrees, and the blade should be submerged up to the hilt.

The blade is directed exactly at the summit of the withers along the backbone between the third and fourth or fourth and fifth vertebrae so as to reach the mediastinus, a region rich in blood vessels near the heart. An internal hemorrhage forces the bull more or less rapidly either to sway and collapse or to kneel down in agony. In the latter case an assistant member of the cuadrilla finishes it off with a dagger. If the animal is slow to collapse it falls to the matador to deliver the coup de grace with the point of a sword called a descabello, which cuts the bull's spinal cord.

When the torero has succeeded in killing the bull according to the rules of the game the spectators hail the end of the struggle with an ovation and demand that the matador be granted the honor of receiving an ear of the defeated bull. The president gives his permission by unfolding the white flag; then the alguacil hands the coveted reward to the torero amid renewed applause from the crowd, while the mules prepare to drag the bull from the ring. These mules are led by men with bare heads, as a token of respect. Meanwhile, the matador and his cuadrilla walk slowly round the ring acknowledging the applause and then assemble in the center amid a shower of flowers, cigars and cheers.

The great fiesta is over; so this strange rite, at the same time sacred and profane, comes to an end. Enthusiasm and sacrifice, tragedy and rejoicing are here indissolubly united amidst the color of the ring, its odor of man and beast, its noise and its sudden and terrible silences. Bullfighting may be debated in theory, but in practice it is accepted, whether enthusiastically or not. Not for nothing did the matador retire to pray alone before facing the animal's horns. To overcome death symbolized by the bull and to kill it oneself is indeed a difficult ambition.

PUBLIC, BULLS AND MATADORS

It is only with difficulty that the foreigner succeeds in glimpsing the essence of bullfighting and in understanding directly how bullfights are the translation into reality of an abstract conception of life.

To reach such an understanding it is necessary to know not only the Spanish people but also to shedthose misconceptions that lead people to side with the bull or the matador. The true aficionado (enthusiast) makes no such distinction: what matters to him is only to see how both stand up in the face of death. It is from this attitude that his excitement springs; and if one of the two playing the game cheats, then the excitement is not there.

Good aficionados must be quite impartial that is to say they must judge impartially both bull and matador. Often they applaud the bull and show no enthusiasm for the matador; at other times they applaud the matador and grumble about the bull, even after it has been killed. Sometimes applause or hissing are accorded to both.

Such a rapid alternation of sympathy and antipathy indicates that the show is not put on only by the matador or by the bull but that both participants have toperform until finally one gives in and the other vanquishes. In a bullfight there is no dissimulation: in a play an actor pretends to die, but here when a man dies he really dies.

The Good Friday procession is the most dramatic event of Holy Week in Seville. Sculptured scenes from the life of Jesus appear on gold painted platforms adorned with cupids, flowers and candles. Each float is carried through the city on the shoulders of several dozen sturdy men. Holy Week is celebrated even in the far off mountain villages in Spain; often a statue of the Virgin from the local parish is taken on an evening tour along the curving mountain roads.

After the fight the matador may be accorded one of the dead bull's ears, or both, or the tail and even a hoof as well. Officially it is the president of the fight who decides, but he follows the wishes of the public. The audience can express varying degrees of enthusiasm: the spectators may clap their hands, or emphasize their clapping by waving their handkerchiefs; further up the scale of enthusiasm they throw their hats or their coats or botas (skin flasks that hold wine) into the ring; further up still they demand one or two or three parades round the ring; and finally, if they are fantastically enthusiastic they lift the torero on their shoulders and carry him to his hotel.

These actions are all the products of excitement. But after a good fight, when the spectators go home, they go silently and hurriedly, like people who have attended some rite and are immersed in the thoughts that it has aroused.