Added: 01/31/2006 |
Bullfighting traditions in Spain since the past and up to nowBullfighting traditions in Spain can be traced to the centuries before the coming of Romans, and today it is impossible to say what the reason to form the strange ritual was. The first reliable data go back to the 5th century AD, when the taunting of bulls by young men started to be accepted as a formalized spectacle.
The Moors, fighting bulls from their horses and killing them with javelins, probably introduced the sport to Spain in the eleventh century, the period when old Roman amphitheaters began to be used as the settings for spectacles. Originally, Francisco Romero is generally accredited to be the first to fight on foot. Francisco Romero, his son Juan and his grandson Pedro Romero are bullfighters, who introduced many innovations and complemented much to the formation of bullfighting traditions in Spain as we can see them today. Particularly, from the times of Francisco Romero, matadors began to carry a short cloak over their left arms, while his son Juan developed the concept of the ?cuadrilla? or a bullfighting team, and he also brought in the ?estoque? (a specifically designed sword). Pedro Romero is the legend of Spanish bullfighting and is considered the first matador to actually represent the bullfight as an art.
The regulations and officially sanctioned bullfighting traditions in Spain today are as follows. Six bulls are selected and allocated in pairs to three individual bullfighters. The bullfight starts in the late afternoon in a large outdoor arena, known as la plaza de toros. Each matador and his team walk out together in a procession across the arena.
The first bullfighter?s assistants, waving large purple capes, attract the attention of the first bull. The bull goes for the cloth not due to its color (bulls are color-blinded), but due to the fact that it is a large, moving target.
The judge signals the entry of two picadores (lancers on horsebacks), one of them is to pierce the bull's neck in a limited way. The aim is to plunge their lances into the bull's neck in order to weaken its strong neck muscles.
The first of three banderilleros (one of the older bullfighters, who forms a part of the matador's team) individually runs towards the bull, prodding him to charge. The banderilleros must insert two banderillas (decorated wooden sticks with spiked ends) over the horns into the bull's neck muscle.
The matador makes the bull charge with his cape in a series of passes. When the bull is weak and not able to charge no longer, the matador must kill the bull with a curved sword by inserting it between the cervical vertebra and into the bull's heart. He might dedicate the bull to an individual or the audience.
If the matador?s performance is perfect and he kills the bull cleanly, the audience will wave white handkerchiefs, signaling the judge to award an ear or two ears and a tail to him. If a matador is injured, the remaining matadors must kill the bull. Hence, the bull dies in any case. The assistants remove the bull's carcass, pull him out of the arena by horses and then distribute for sale in butchers' shops or the local market.
Although this brief review of bullfighting specificity in Spain since the past and up to now is only to cover the major details of bullfighting traditions in Spain, it is quite clear that the Spanish national ?sport? is far different from the general concept of sport we commonly recognize, but at the same time it is viewed as a non separate tradition of the Spanish nation.
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