Bull Fighting in Spain Part Two

Recently Rio de Janeiro was chosen to host the Olympics in 2016. The four original candidates included: Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro. Chicago was eliminated first and followed by Tokyo. Then it was between Madrid and Rio de Janeiro. My first chose was obviously Chicago simply because it is practically down the street from where we live. My second chose was Madrid because I absolutely love the country of Spain and thought it would be a good opportunity for me to go back to Spain. Unfortunately, Rio de Janeiro came out victorious, probably because South America has never hosted the Olympics before. I was disappointed when I found out but I guess it won’t be the last Olympics so the United States and Spain still have another shot.

Earlier in my blog writing I talked briefly about my experience with bull fighting in Spain. Even though I thought it was cruel, it is still nonetheless a crucial part of their culture that must be learned about. The first bull fight ever recorded in Spain was during the crowning of King Alfonso VIII. It has become so popular in the country since then, that every year over one million people go to watch bull fights. To start a bull fight, one bull is let into the ring where it is met by an assistant of the matador (the chief bull fighter). The assistant will wave a brightly colored cap in front of the bull to make it charge. This helps the matador determine what type of a bull it is going to be, because many bulls have different personalities. If the bull is determined to be unaggressive during this section they will remove him from the ring and attempt a new bull. Nonaggressive bulls will not put up a good fight and the crowd will not be happy with this. One more thing I need to mention before I move any further is that before the bull enters the bull fighting ring, he has never seen a human walking on two feet. These bulls are raised far out from civilization and are trained by a man riding on a horse to be highly aggressive. When they are young, they are tested to see if they have the potential to be aggressive bulls, if not, they are killed right then and there. The fact that this is the first time a bull has ever seen a human walking on two feet and for that matter a crowd of humans puts him out of his element.

After this a picador on a horse will go and stick a spear into the neck of the bull. This is where the crucial muscles for a bull are, making him very angry. Next the matador, which is the most skilled bull fighter, will come onto the arena. This is the most anticipated part of the show because the bull fighter will show his strength and courage. He will run around the bull making him angry while placing several spears in the bulls back. The more dangerous the stunt the matador performs, the more the crowd will cheer. This is very dangerous because one wrong move and the bull fighter could be impaled with the horns of the bull. In Spain, Matadors are celebrities, the more accomplished they become and the higher up in the rankings of celebrity status they go. After the matador has shown his courage, he will prepare to kill the bull by fatally stabbing it through the heart. This is a difficult task to complete because often times the matador will hit bone and if the matador is successful on the first try he is usually awarded. At this point, the crowd begins to feel sorry for the bull and wants it to die as quickly as possible. If the crowd is pleased with the bull fight, they will waive their handkerchiefs in the air. The president of the bull fighting ring, present at every bull fight, will determine whether the bull fighter will receive one ear, two ears, the tail, or the hoof of the bull. Most often times the bull fighter will receive nothing because these awards are very difficult to receive. At the bull fight I went to there were a total of 6 bulls killed and although the bull fighters were good, none of them received any part of the bulls.