Un Día a la Plaza de Toros

On May 1, with a small duffel bag and an even smaller backpack, I set off to Spain in business class, only to spend my first nights on a top bunk in an 8-person dorm at the Way Hostel Madrid. I had done my research, and already knew what I would be doing that first night - seeing a bullfight. It was never a life goal really, but my excitement grew at the prospect of seeing such a unique spectacle. Once a week, every Sunday at the Ventas Plaza de Toros, was it, so I had just this one chance.

After a day of touring the city, I found a couple girls from the hostel to join me for the bloody event. As I was the group's lone Spanish-speaker (scoff), I articulately purchased the cheapest seats, and we headed through the inviting entrance.

Our frugality took us high.. and higher, onto the second to last row, where we struggled to share space with the feet of those on the last row. The roof seemed within the reach. And the ring... wow. A beautiful structure all around. It began with a triumphant tone from the start. A parade of the participants, the toreros, and upbeat music played from the band.

The family in front of us was local, and in half English/half Spanish, the father explained to us what we were seeing. "Tercios! Este es el primer tercio - capote!" Capote refers to the magenta cape of the toreros. They tease the bull around the ring. They also bring out a picador, a guy on top of a horse. When the bull attacks the horse - "pica! pica!" The blood begins to flow.

The second act is that of the banderilleros. I didn't get a good picture of them, so you should go watch a bullfight yourself the next time you travel to see what it's all about. The third and final act, el tercio de muerte, pits the matador and his "muleta," the red cape, against the weakened and injured bull. This tercio above all displays the artistic grace of the torero, not to mention courage and a healthy dose of showboating.

The bull obviously gave this matador a little trouble before it was all over.

For the uninitiated, this spectacle is quite shocking. Seemingly harmless at first, seeing a bull killed, dragged away to upbeat fanfare, and the next victim brought in, makes you feel like you're a peasant in the stands at a Roman ampitheatre. One of my friends had to leave halfway through the first bull's show. Not for the faint of heart.