BULLFIGHT!!!

It was our last weekend in Spain and we had bought our tickets to the bullfight in advance becasue I couldn't wait to see it. Fair warning to anyone who likes animals... you may not like this story. Yes, the bulls die.

We saw 3 matadors. Each matador fought 2 bulls. None of the bulls had any chance. To call this a bullfight is not quite correct. The matadors always win. Everyone knows this.

You realize this is the case when you see that the matador does not fight the bull alone. He has help, lots of help. There are about 6 assistant matadors and 3 guys with spears on blindfolded horses that 'weaken' the bull before the matador even starts. By the time the matador actually starts 'fighting' the bull, the bull has been stabbed at least 6-10 times. Not exactly a fair fight.

You have to understand that the Spanish culture is quite different from ours. The Spanish have lots of respect for bulls. It is considered honorable for a bull to die in a bullfight. I guess its better than being run through a slaughter house. I knew all of this already, but it was still pretty disturbing when we watched the first bull be killed right in front of our eyes.

This first matador was named Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza, he is one of the top matadors in Spain. He is one of the few matadors that fights the bull on horseback. It was such an amazing thing to watch. This guy was so in sync with his horses. The horse would taunt the bull, almost like he was mocking the bull. The horse would juke the bull, dance around the bull, and was always one step ahead.


This is Cayetano. He was a showman. He is not a full-fledged matador yet. So he has to be more flashy, flamboyant, and take more risks because he's working his way up.

Here is Mendoza again. You can see how close the bull comes to catching the horse.

Cayetano again. This guy was pretty amazing. It was just like how you see in pictures. The stances, the outfits, the cape and sword.

Here is one of the assistant matadors. They are pretty good themselves.

So we saw 6 bulls get killed in cold blood. The first one was pretty uncomfortable to watch. I found myself routing for the bulls. I guess you get desensitized after a while. These bulls are raised on farms specifically to die in the bull ring. Once you realize that the bull's purpose in life is to die in the ring, I guess it gets a little easier to accept.

As always, I have LOTS more pictures of this. I didn't put many on here because of all the blood and death. But if you're into that kind of thing, and/or want to get a really good impression of what the whole thing was like, I have a link to more pics and video below.

BULLFIGHT!!!