Evento de Toro

Brad and I went to a see a bullfighting event. I didn't really know anything about the event, so I wanted to see this aspect of Spanish culture for myself. There has been a shift in the support for bullfighting -- less and less Spanish people agree with it's practice and think it's inhuman. However, many still go and bullfighting events are sure to sell out.

I had a very naive idea of what a bullfight was. I thought it would be similar to a rodeo like at home. Because of this, I couldn't really understand how cruel this practice is until I got there. I thought they just riled up the bull and tried not to get stabbed with the bulls horns. I knew they killed it at the end, but I didn't know the details.

After going and doing research, here is the order of events of a Toros event:

First, the bull is released into the ring and there are people with pink sheets trying to rile the bull up.

Second, two people on horses come into the ring and 2-4 other people with sharp ended sticks come into the ring. The people with the two horses want the bull to ram into their horse (that is wearing protective gear, but also blinders so that the horse doesn't freak out about a bull ramming itself into it), so that they can stab the bull between the shoulder blades. The other 2-4 people with sharp ended sticks try to pin their sticks onto the bull. "Pin" as in stick into the muscle and skin of the bull so that it stays.

^(I mean, look at that long spear! The poor bull doesn't stand a chance...)

At this point in the event, you begin to see the bull's blood.

Then the men on horses and the men with the sticks retreat and the matadero comes out. Apparently, the best matadero comes out first (there are three rounds -- 3 bulls). The matadero keeps riling up the bull with a red sheet. At the end, the matadero stares down the bull and tries to kill it in one swift stab. One stab means more points/a higher ranking for the matadero... However, for us...the matadero didn't do this, so it took two attempts.

Brad and I actually didn't end up staying for the whole time. We tried to leave halfway through but officials wouldn't let us leave during the second performance. Which was upsetting -- apparently people really value having a good view and pictures of an animal being stabbed...

Apparently, a bull can be spared if it shows extreme courage and valor and whatnot. I mean, how does a bull even show that?! And this is very rare. How do they truly determine that? And if a bull kills a matador or helper, they don't "win". They still get killed anyways.

In whole, the event was disturbing for both of us. Like I said, I am glad that I was able to see with my own eyes what happens and was able to make an informed decision myself about this invent. It just...disturbs me that the bull's pain is all about show and points. Additionally, Brad and I were talking afterwards, and there are ways to make this a humane event if getting rid of it entirely is out of the question! Riling up the bull is one thing, but stabbing it and hurting it is another. The poles they "pin" to the bull could be pinned humanely. They could use poles with tape or velcro to make the poles stick to the animals fur, instead of in its flesh. Instead of stabbing the animal, or trying to, to death, mataderos could put paint on the end of their sword and then try to stab the bull in the correct place. But because the end of the sword would not actually be sharp, all they would end up doing is marking the bull with paint, again, not puncturing the flesh. Then the judges could evaluate the accuracy of the point of paint. Those were our thoughts at least...