"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering, all the rest are mere games."
Really Mr. Ernest Hemingway?
Well, I decided to check it out and so off we went to Madrid's biggest bull ring…
the Las Ventas.
Initial fanfare. You have the whole cotourier of 'sportsmen' going in the arena. Take note of the peones (guys with pink socks and cape) and the picadores (guys in horses).
The peones (all of them) taunts the bull with their pink cape. There partners-in-crime, the picadores also goads it and when the bull does, they jab its back with a spear.
Dont' worry about the horses, they are all have a padded armor.
Then comes the swashbuckling star of the show- the Matador himself (in red cape). He again taunts and plays around with the already week bull. Notice the banderillas or barb darts that the peones have jabbed before.
Makes the job of the matador really easy.
Finally, he goes for the kill…
And it's all over for the bull.
Somebody will be gorging on ox tapas(!) soon….
A trail of blood…
In all, this game was repeated six times(by different matadors) and six bulls were killed in a span of 2.5 hours.
So Mr. Hemingway, is this a sport? or Art? or Spectacle? Maybe to some.
I think it's a tragedy.
Different strokes for different folks.
Street Walker Tales- Manila and Beyond. 
May 15, 2006 at 11:04 pm
Well, this looks like a massacre to me 🙂 Still, it would be interesting to witness Plaza de toros for yourself. I’ve been seeing this in all the tourist photos of Spain and I wonder when can I visit these places…hmmn…
May 17, 2006 at 12:29 am
Anton,
Yes, I guess so, I mean would go to Spain to watch this kind of thing…but I think once is enough for me.
May 17, 2006 at 9:56 am
When I saw my first and only bull fight in Madrid — I didn’t know that they actually killed the bull.
I walked out after the first bull went down.
May 17, 2006 at 11:03 am
Wysgal,
So, the you go, 15 Euros…pfffttt…hehehe.
We waited till the fourth bull and didnt bother with the two…too sad.
May 18, 2006 at 9:38 am
Yes 15 euros (they were actually still using pesetas when I was in Madrid last) down the drain. But I felt so bad for the animals I couldn’t bring myself to stay the whole time!
May 19, 2006 at 6:24 am
Well I am still puzzled why normally nice and friendly people are attracted by those bloody games. There must be something deep inside us that make us blood thirsty and it seems we like to play with life and death.
I am working on a series of cockfighting in the Philippines. A fascinating world…
May 19, 2006 at 10:28 am
Sidney,
Are you, in particular, pertaining to me? haha…
Honnestly, I still dont know how I was able to sit through the whole after four bulls were stabbed…Maybe I wanted revenge for the bull, one actually almost gored a matador but lost in the end.
As I said, different strokes for different folks…
August 7, 2006 at 3:36 am
fuck you
you would rather see a man injured than an animal
fuck you