Since we are living in Spain for a while we went to a Bullfight. When in Rome…

It was fascinating, not least because you get to see the whole spectacle, which is not exactly what you’d expect. There is a great deal of pageantry associated with bullfights. (I am sure the bulls are unimpressed by said pageantry, but it is nonetheless true). 

In Seville there are bullfights on Thursday evenings beginning at 9:00 PM. You buy your tickets and take your seats on the concrete steps with the seat numbers painted on them. The ring in Seville, which is one of the important ones, was completed in 1881. It is basically just an old fashioned arena — kind of like the ones in those old gladiator movies except that they sell beer. Mostly Cruzcampo, which is the local brew, to be precise. 

There are tourists and locals in the crowd, mostly locals. Some of the locals get pretty dressed up for the event—despite the fact that it can be brutally hot sitting in the stands. Plenty of the locals take their families to the bull fight, which goes a long way toward explaining why they aren’t so squeamish as the tourists are. They have been attending these events since they were kids. It’s Spanish tradition and just the way things are. 

I am not saying that we would go again, but it is certainly worth going once to see the pageantry, the crowds and how the bullfights actually are performed. Some photos from the bullfight we saw are below.

JFB