La Corrida de Toros

I do not have any pictures of the actual killing with the sword, but they have a long sword that they are suppose to shove into the top of his back, right behind his head. If it is a good kill, they receive either one ear, two ears, or two ears and a tail of the bull they killed. Sorry these pictures are backwards. You should actually start reading the bottom picture first.

The last part is saved for the matador. This matador's form was beautiful and I could have watched this all day. He would get so close to the bull that it would brush him as it ran by.

The second part, the picadores come out. They have little spears (for lack of a better word) that they jump up and stab into the bulls back. 3 times. These spears hook into the bull and don't come out. After they stab him, they run for the fence.

This is the first part of the corrida. Two men on horses (blindfolded) come out and stab the bull with long spears. If you ask me, this is the coward job. The horse is the one that takes the heat.



Well, I am glad that I went to a Corrida de Toros because it is historically a part of their culture, but I will say that I have no desire to ever go again. Before we went, we talked about it with our Spanish friends. None of them had ever been to a bull fight. Antonio said that many of the younger generation don't go because they don't agree with it. I had a hard time understanding why they wouldn't at least go and see something that was so culturally Spanish, but now I understand. I will say that I appreciated the cape work and the form of the matador. This part was almost beautiful, and I would have been just as happy (more, in fact) if this was all there was.

The matadores were not the best, and they often didn't get the kill the first time, which is terrible to watch. If they can't kill the bull, a man comes up with a small dagger and jams it into his head. It is awful. After the first kill, Melissa and I decided we were rooting for the bull. The next bull did manage to gore the matador in the leg, and I must say I didn't feel that bad for the man. I am not trying to completely criticize this part of their culture, but it has by far been my least favorite thing that I've seen here.