Bullfight in Madrid

I watched six half ton bulls die right before my eyes.

I am staying at this hostel which is just dreadful. No air con, in fact, little air movement in the rooms whatsoever. After one night of crap sleep I asked the front desk if I could switch rooms if something was available and the nice guy was able to help me out while the other guy just grumped at me. When I got up to my new room there was an older couple having a siesta. I didn't mean to wake them up but I did and boy am i glad I did. We got to talking and they are from Australia, just like everybody else it seems, doing a long three month tour of Europe with Busabout. Lynn and Greg were so sweet to me they invited me out to go see the bullfight that night with them and a couple of others. I was reluctant at first but Lynn talked me into it.

I'm not sure what I expected when I went into the ring but it felt like a modern  day coliseum. The seats were just cement steps with numbers on the edge which was your seat number. The ring was much much smaller than I expected too. We got amazing seats with no one in front of us and all the 'action' took place rig in front of us.

I was briefed on what takes place during a bullfight by another Aussie I met pre-gaming at a near by cervaciaria. She and her husband have seen many bullfights around the world.  Let me try to explain the order of events and I apologize for my lack of technical terms, I'm writing this the next day at a cafe.... also this description may not be fitting for those prone to being grossed out.

First there are trumpets and the small band plays while all the men walk out onto the ring in full garb waving to the crowd and getting pumped up.  Then the first bull is released into the ring.  The bull has already been stabbed in the neck with something small and gunk put in its eyes so it is good and pissed off. There are about six men in the ring with capes to rile up the bull and get it to attack their capes. When the bulls charge these men hide behind a fence in the arena. The bulls are after movement and not color which is why it always goes for the exciting moving cape and not for the mans legs which are dressed in bright pink socks. When the guy hides the bull gets mad even more because he cannot figure out where the hell that exciting movement ran off too. Horns sound again and two men on horseback enter the ring. The horses are heavily padded and need to be for what is about to happen. The men with capes are still in the ring and entice the bill close to one of the guys on horseback who has a long spear with a two inch spike on the end. What the guy on horseback does is plunge the spear in the bulls neck to start to weaken it. The bull is pretty much "WTF??!?!?" and rams into the gut area of the horse. One time the bull hit the horse so hard the rider and horse both fell down. We thought the horse was dead but they pulled the horse back up and it was fine. Meanwhile the bull is gushing blood and the men with capes are running it around the ring. The guy on horseback will take another stab at the bull. Horns again.  A couple of brave guys put down their cape momentarily and pick up a spear about a foot long, brightly decorated, with a barb in the end of it.  Now this is the craziest part for me. The guys with capes center the bull in the ring and while it is standing there dazed for a moment the guy with the mini spears runs up to the bull and jams it into the left side of the bulls neck. Mind you, this guy has no protection, just a brightly colored lyca suit. A second guy repeats the deed with two mini spears on the right side.  Again with a third guy with two center of the neck. Blood is now gushing all over the bull but it's not too badly hurt, but pissed off, bloody, and ready to fight. Horns again. A handsome man enters the ring with a red cape which is held up by a straight sword. This is the matador. He is a big deal. First he screws around with the bull. Tries to get the bull to run in a complete circle around him. Gets real close to the bull and taunts it with shouts, noises, and flicks his red cape at the bull. After a good show the matador will look up in the special box section where I assume is where the president of the ring sits. The matador is asking for permission to kill the bull and more often then not permission is granted especially if both matador and bull have given a good show. The matador swaps out his sword for another one: a slightly thicker sword with a bend in it. The guys with the capes give the matador backup just in case. The matador squares off with the bull. Staring right at him. Perhaps only three feet apart. The matador charges whiles aiming his death sword between the shoulder blades so that the curved part of the blade hits the heart. This is where things don't always go as planned. Our first bull we saw die took a while, the aim was off. Compete agony, for me and the bull. It was still fighting, bucking, trying to run, bleeding everywhere. But finally it fell and several brain stabs were administered to make sure the deed was done. We had some strong bulls to watch. The third bull was mean. Real mean. All muscle. The guys with the mini spears had a hard time getting them to stay in and in the right spot. That matador had a tough time. While he was still on his first sword the bull got the best of him and he wound up on the bulls face then thrown to the ground. The bull knew what it wanted to do and was focused on that matador. The guys with capes swooped in to distract while another scooped up the matador and ran out of the ring with him. I think his leg and side were pretty jacked up.  I pray he's fine. My hands didn't stop sweating the entire time. I'm glad I had beer to drink, I don't know if I could have watched sober. Once a bull is in the ring you cannot leave for any reason. It is super disrespectful to stand up. Once that matador was hurt and carried off a more experienced guy came over to deliver the death blow. Thankfully it was the cleanest kill of the night. Another bull died about 20 feet I front of me and it was the most gruesome death of the evening. Once the bull has been viewed as totally and absolutely dead a team of horses comes in to drag the body away and the blood on the dirt is cleaned up. The meat is said to be used. It does not go to waste. More than once I saw men jumping over the side if the ring to get out of the bulls way. It was intense, I can see why the country of Spain is so divided on the topic.  

I am really glad I went and I most likely will never go again.