Chapter 7: Protests, Bullfights, and Too Much Skin

It’s not many times you get to experience the smell of death.  When I was walking around the roman ruins of Itálica, I thought to myself, “It would be cool if they still had gladiator vs. animal fights.”  But after going to Corrida de toros (bullfighting) in Sevilla, I realized that bullfighting is the closest I can get to see gladiators fight.  It was a gruesome yet fascinating event that I think everyone should experience in order to fully grasp the importance it has in Spanish culture.  I will discuss this later so that those who do not want to read about it can read about my other adventures first.

This past weekend played host to a lot of new cultural experiences: political protests, Roman Empire ruins, bullfights, and topless beaches.

Over the past week, and on Friday particularly, there have been many protests throughout Spain due to the local elections (not presidential election) that took place yesterday.  One of the main protests in Spain took place in Puerta del Sol where our hostel was in Madrid.  There have also been a lot of demonstrations and marches here in Sevilla.  Most of them are young students who didn’t like the current party in power; however that party was reelected last night.  In Spain, individuals are not elected, but the party is.  People vote for a political party and that party takes control of the entire government.  Lots of people have been protesting that this is not a true democracy.  I have to give a presentation on the politics on Spain later this month so I will make an entry with more accurate details then. 

Protestors gather at a new public architectural project that was funded by the government.  This has been the site of many protests in the past couple of weeks.

On Saturday we took a field trip to Itálica which is about 30 minutes outside of the city.  Itálica was a city during the Roman Empire and had the third largest amphitheater in the empire.  This is where gladiators fought other gladiators or wild animals.  Here we got to see a lot of things we have talked about in my art history class, so it was interesting to make connections.  It’s a very historical place that demonstrates a lot of the empire’s advancements.   

The amphitheater at Italica where gladiators fought.

From Itálica we drove an hour to a beach and we were able to hang out and relax for a couple of hours.  Unfortunately it was during my normal siesta time, so naturally I fell asleep on the beach and got pretty burnt.  Although the beach wasn’t designated a topless or nude beach, people still felt to urge to expose themselves.  I guess if it doesn’t explicity say it is a nude beach then it is understood it is a topless beach (that is their idea of keeping their clothes on).  We were a bunch of dumbstruck Americans as our group of 70 walked onto the beach and stood their awkwardly trying to find a place while adverting our eyes/pretending to advert our eyes. 

La Playa with large rock in the water.  At low tide, the rock is out of the water.

Yesterday a group of us went to the Corrida de toros which was a memorable experience.  We really wanted to go while we were here since they are talks of them outlawing bullfights.  The bullfights we went to were amateur matadors.  Although it wasn’t professional matadors, it was better for us since it was cheaper, the younger matadors are more aggressive to please the crowds, and we don’t know the difference between amateur and pro bullfighting.  Three matadors fought and killed two bulls each.  There were a 19 years old, 23 year old, and a 25 year old women.  The event was held in Plaza de Toros which is one of the most famous venues in Spain (it is the background of the blog).  They have bullfights every Sunday after Semana Santa (Holy Week) until about July.  They usually start around 6:30 and 7:00 so that one half of the stadium is in the shade and the other half is in the sun.  While there really is no bad place to sit in the stadium, it is very hot in the sun.  Seats in the sun are less expensive than seats in the shade.  The event was new cultural atmosphere that displayed Spanish tradition.  We sat in front of the band that played classic Spanish music between fights, and almost ominous music as the dead bull was dragged out of the ring.  There were six bullfights total, and they are split into three different stages that are started by the sound of a bugle.  I have listed the three stages below, and they may be graphic so proceed with caution.  For the most part the audience is quiet, despite a few shouts of “Olé.”  An eerie silence comes over the crowd right before the matador kills the bull.  Once the bull falls to the ground, the band begins to play, the people cheer, and decorated horses come to drag the bull out of the stadium.   Matadors are highly respected and a good matador will kill his bull during his first attempt, and two at the maximum.   I have explained what happens step by step below.  Enjoy.

Plaza de Toros

The paseíllo starts which is a parade of the participants as they salute the visting dignitary. 

The matadors and their assistants parade out as part of the paseíllo. Two picadores (the lancers on horseback), tree banderilleros who help the matador control the bull during the first two stages with magenta and gold capes, and a sword page.

Stage 1 - The bull enters the arena as is tested for verocity by the matador with a magenta and gold cape.  The matador makes a series of passes to oberserve the behavior of the bull and any abnormal behavior.   

Two Picadors come out and circle the ring.  The horse is blind folded so it doesn't become scared by the charging bull.  It is also padded to protect the horse from the bull's horns. 

 

It is the picadors job to approach the bull and stab it just behind the morrillo, a mound of muscle on the fighting bull's neck, weakening the neck muscles and leading to the animal's first loss of blood.  The matador's assistants uses there capes to distract the bull incase it becomes aggresive with the horse.  During this time the matador can observe certain behaviors about the bull such as what side the bull favors.  This bull will be stabbed two times by the picador.



Stage 2 - The three banderilleros each attempt to plant two banderillas into the bull's shoulders.  The banderillas are sticks with large hooks on the end.  Two assistants use their capes on either side of the bull to keep him still.  The banderilleros will hold the sticks up in the air and then yell at the bull to get his attention.  The banderilleros then charge at the bull, jump up and stab the bull with the sticks.  If successful, the bull will have six sticks dangeling form him at the end.

Stage 3 - The matador enters the ring along to go one-on-one with the bull using his red cape and sword.  The matador uses the cape the attract the bull into a series of passes to wear the horse down and present a display of choreopgraphic art.  The series of passes can be broken up into different stages resulting in applause from the audience.  He attempts to make a final pass to position the bull infront of himto stab it between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart

The matador stands face to face with the bull as it prepares to stab him.  The audience is silent as the matador stands still until he quickly jumps towards to bull to stab it in his back.  You can tell the job of the picadors was successful as the bull has his head, horns, and shoulders down, making it easy for the matador to kill the bull.

As the bull falls down to thr ground, an assistant stabs the bull in the brain to ensure that it is dead.

Three decorated horses enter the stadium and the bull is attached to the back of them.  As the band starts playing and people cheer, the horse is quickly dragged around and carried out of the stadium.  This happens 5 more times.