Spanish Bull Fight

This past weekend Mark and I checked off one of his "Spain to-do lists"...go to a Spanish Bull Fight! I was a little hesitant about it but it didn't turn out as bad as I thought. There were a couple moments that were hard to watch but overall the worst part (where the bull actually died) went pretty quick. There were 4 Matadors there, each Matador went against two bulls (the first round, we looked up some facts about it afterwards just fyi ;), were 4 year old bulls, the 2nd round they each went up against a 6 year old bull). We ended up leaving after bull number 6 though...it was getting pretty late and we decided that was enough cultural experience for us for one day :) 

So I'm gonna go over what happens at the bull fight so if you don't want to read it, don't go any further, you've been forewarned :) I'm not posting these pics on facebook cuz I don't want to deal with people's comments regarding it...this is definitely a unique cultural experience to go to in Spain, I'm glad we went, but definitely won't go again. I did enjoy the artistry and cultural aspect of it, but the actual act of what was going on was a little hard to watch. This is a long long standing tradition (first bull fight dates back to 711AD!) though so we wanted go see it once while we were here :)

The bull ring in Sanlucar

The poster for our bull fight...unfortunately the last Matador, Roca Rey, was gored last week in the butt so he was unable to come. He was replaced by El Fandi. Padilla is one of the more well known fighters...mostly due to the fact that in 2011 he was gored in the face by a bull...nearly dying. He did lose an eye and hearing in one ear. The info on him says that 5 months after his injury he returned to the bull ring with an eye patch and ever since has been called The Pirate. PRETTY darn crazy I must say. He was the best one to watch though---had the most "artistry" in his performance. I found out after that he was born in Jerez (a neighboring town) and lives in Sanlucar not too far from us! pretty dang cool. 

When the bull first comes out (this stage is called tercio de varas, "part of lances") they do a series of maneuvers to test the bull out, see their quirks, traits, etc. Many of the bulls came out running and were pretty intense- a couple of them would run up to the little wood panels that the banderilleros (these guys are part of the main matadors entourage/assistants, they go behind the panels to get away from the bulls) and the bulls would chip away big chunks of the panel when they hit it. The bulls are color blind btw....most people think they use the red capes because they are attracted to the red, but that's not true. The bulls are attracted to the movement and attack when they see the movement of the fabric. The color is more traditional and to mask the blood that might get on the cape later. 

I didn't take many pictures of this part cuz I took more video here...but of course my stupid blog, even after all these years, still cannot upload videos :( :( :( 

Next came out two picadores...these are two guys mounted on horses, who have heavy duty padding around them and are blindfolded (the horses not the guys ;)) The job of these guys is to stab a mound of muscle (morrillo) on the bull's neck leading to the animal's first loss of blood. This loss of blood further weakens the bull and makes him ready for the next stage. This was pretty crazy....the same guys came out each time and at I think the 2nd or 3rd bull, the bull completely knocked down the horse...it took a while to get up but it wasn't injured or anything. But when it came out for the next bull it was pretty darn scared. It was skittish and knew there was another bull in there. Kinda sad :( We read on the information thing that they used to not have padding on the horses so thank goodness they changed that in the 1930's. With another of the bulls, it picked the horse up from the front although that time it didn't get knocked over. Pretty crazy though. 

The next stage is called tercio de banderillas, this is where the banderillas, or the Matador, take turns planting barbed sticks into the bulls shoulders. This further weakens/tires out the bull.

as I'm sure you can tell....this is Padilla :) The main Matador wears an outfit with gold in it...the assistants wear silver. 

I think this was El Fandi

The last stage is called tercio de muerte (part of death). The matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape or muleta in one hand and a sword in the other. The matador performs a series of moves/passes, called the faena. The faena ends with a final series of passes (which are fairly artistic in style..it's the job of the matador to make this "dance" dramatic and in some ways take the audiences attention off the bull when it dies) in which the matador with a muleta attempts to maneuver the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the heart. 

this is Lopez Simon...he was a lot more flashy in his performance....very much into himself- he was always looking out at the crowd and doing this hair flip with his hair after he did something "good". 

cocky little thing for sure ;) 

these matadors are pretty crazy though...it was amazing the things they did and how close to the bulls they got...very daring moves

After the bull dies the presiding dignitary, or presidente, awards the Matador a trofeo (trophy), either one ears, two ears, or two ears and the bull tail. Then the bull is taken away by a team of horses and the Matador usually does a "victory lap" around the ring. People throw things down to him (hats, cushions,  flowers, etc)., which that Matador kisses or rubs in the dirt or across his brow and then throws back to the person. 

The Pirate is definitely an appropriate name for him :)

Padilla with the two ears and bull tail. He definitely was the best Matador there. 

someone threw him a shawl and he wore it around the ring ;) 

So there is our bull fight experience! :)