Toro!

Tonight I went to a bullfight in Seville. It was pretty cool to see. Bullfighting is a tradition in Spain that goes back a very long time. It is pretty brutal and the treatment of the animal is not always the best. Two of the Matadors tonight were pretty bad shots with the sword but the one that the fans favored the most made good clean kills during both of his rounds. The way this works best I can tell, there are three Matadors and each one kills two bulls. Each fight consists of several rounds. In round 1 there are several Torredores that are out in the ring taunting the bull and getting him really ticked off. In round two, the picadores come out on horses and the bull attacks the horse, allowing the Picadore to stab the bull further wounding it. In Round three, there are again several Torredores, three with capes, and three with these colorful spikes. The guys with capes taunt the bull and lure it to the guys with the spikes. When the bull charges the guy with the spikes jumps out of the way at the last second and sticks the spike in the bulls back. Round 4 begins and all the Torredores leave the arena and the Matador steps in to finish off the bull. The Matador is judged by the crowd on his ability to make the bull perform in it's weakened state. As the bull continually weakens from blood loss, it becomes more difficult for the Matador to keep the bull focused and make him charge. When the trumpet sounds it is then time for the Matador to finish killing the bull. There was only one guy tonight that did it right the first time. There is apparently a certain spot between the bulls shoulders that the Matador must hit with the sword. The guy in the picture above is the one that was so good. The others were actually taunted by the crowd because they were torturing the animals by not getting a clean kill. One guy had to try several times. Needless to say, the guy in the picture above found the most favor with the crowd.I think now that I have been, I most likely wouldn't go again.

Don't get me wrong, it was an experience but I think from now on if I want to go watch someone kill a bull, I'll go down to the local slaughter house. It's got to be quicker than watching 6 bulls get killed in 3 hours.