Bullfight in Granada.

As is tradition in Spain, there was a bullfight in Granada last Tuesday for the holiday. When I came to Spain, I didn't think that I would ever go to a bullfight, mostly because I hate seeing any type of animal hurt, but I decided that I had to go because it is such a cultural experience, if nothing else. I went with my sister, her boyfriend and my friend Megan. I advise you, some of this is graphic, so I apologize in advance.

The actual bullfighting ring was impressive. It is a huge circle with sand as a floor. There are entryways on three areas of the ring for the matador and his helpers to escape from the bulls. There is a place where the bull comes out of and a place where the horses come from. At first, I thought it was going to be very gruesome and bloody but there were only certain parts that I could not watch.

Sarah and I at the bullfight.

The bullfighting ring of Granada.

There are six separate bullfights, each with a different bull and different matador. The entire event starts off with the entrance of all the matadors, helpers, horsemen and horsewomen. I was surprised that the matadors weren't dressed in more extravagant outfits, but apparently each city does bullfights differently and thus, the custom in Granada is for the matador to almost blend with his helpers. There were a few horses, each with a different purpose. Two of the horses were ridden by women who basically only introduced the whole crew before the start of the first fight. Two other smaller horses were chained to what seemed to be a carriage holder without the carriage. Those horses were used to take the dead bulls out of the ring. The other two horses were dressed in what seemed to look like a cardboard box. This material was wrapped all the way around the horse in order to protect it from the bull. These horses are ridden by the men who stab the bull first, in order to start the bleeding and tire the bull. 

The crew.

The crew again.

When each bullfight begins, the bull comes raging out of its gate. The matador's helpers are there with pink capes, luring the bull in and then hiding behind the barricades. This is used to tire the bull before the horseman comes to stab it for the first time. Sometimes the matador helps in this and sometimes he waits until the bull is more tired. The more involved the matador is through the whole process, the more praise he receives. After the bull is stabbed by the horseman, there are four or six fish hook- type rods that are stuck into the bulls back, around the shoulder blades. These are colorful rods which make the bull bleed even more, again, to tire it before the final stabbing. After other people have helped the matador, it is solely him and the bull in the ring. He uses his red cape to show off different moves and dangers. Sometimes, the matador is very risky and sometimes, he is boring to watch because he is so safe. Finally, after a few more "OLE'S!", the matador will point his sword at the bull and concentrate. The whole crowd is completely quiet, and if one person talks, everyone will 'shush' them. At this point, the matador needs to stab the sword directly in the soft spot between the bull's shoulder blades. If it is done right, the lungs and heart will collapse, and the bull will die almost instantly. If it is done wrong, the bull suffers more. A few times, it wasn't done right and therefore, very hard to watch because the bull was struggling so much. When it was done right though, it was almost instant and seemed to not be a struggle. Then one of the matador's helpers cuts the brain stem just to insure that the bull will not lunge its horns one more time and the horses come to take it away.

 The matador's helper.

The standoff.

The horseman stabbing the bull.

The final point of the sword before the final stabbing.

In general, the crowd is very sympathetic towards the bull. If a matador is not doing the stabbing correctly and thus, making the bull suffer, the crowd thinks poorly of him. When the bull does die, people have white flags that they wave in honor of the bull and the courage it had. It was interesting to look at all these people who had all paid to see an animal (or six) get slaughtered but then be sympathetic towards said animal. The whole atmosphere was entirely hypocritical but an interesting cultural experience, none the less.