Tauromaquia: An Antiquated Tragedy

After Albufera, a week went by in Valencia that was pretty low-key. 5 days of class, a few beach trips, some shopping...nothing too eventful. Except for Wednesday when we had a group trip to una corrida de toros, or a bull fight. I was excited to go and experience this huge piece of Spanish culture, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

We took a bus to La Plaza de Toros which is in downtown Valencia. There is a big tauromaquia (bullfighting) festival there every July, so there are bullfights almost every day. On the day we went, it was for semi-professional bullfighters (toreros) so they were younger and slightly less experienced. Tickets are cheaper on those days, so the leaders wanted us to go then and we got tickets for 10 euros. They separate the Colosseum-esque stadium into shade (sombra) and sun (sol) and we were lucky enough to get tickets in the shade (the whole stadium was in the shade by the end, but the beginning would be brutal in the sun).

La Plaza de Toros (actual arena on left). 

Poster on the wall of the Plaza

There were 6, 30-minute bullfights on the night we went that all form the one event. Each individual bullfight has 3 sections that ends in the brutal death of the bull. I'll spare the gory details, but essentially, the objective of the first 2 rounds is to tire out the bull so much that the bullfighter can easily kill it in a drawn out and dramatic third round. I stayed for 3 bull deaths, then left at halftime.

I am totally respectful of cultural differences, but I will probably never go to a bullfight again. It was barbaric to listen to the crowd cheer when the bull dies or gets close to the end. We did several reflections on this experience for our culture class, but the strongest thing I feel about this is it seems like an antiquated tradition that never seems to end and has not purpose in modern society. Most of the spectators there were elderly men (very few women) so maybe an end is in sight? In the next 200 years maybe? I think it is time to move on...

On a happier note, we left for Granada right after class on Friday and had the most amazing weekend. I know I tend to exaggerate sometimes, but Granada is wholeheartedly the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Blog post coming soon!

Currently, on Monday night of 7/28, I have 4 days left of class then a day trip to Peñiscola  on Saturday. We leave for Madrid on Sunday where we will stay until we fly back to the States on Tuesday (a week from tomorrow). I am going to be sad to leave Spain, but salad, here I come!