A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with the Iberian Peninsula, but they can also be found through Iberian America and in a few Spanish and Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. Bullrings are often historic and culturally significant centres that bear many structural similarities to the Roman amphitheatre.
The classic bullring is an enclosed, roughly circular amphitheatre with tiered rows of stands that surround an open central space. The open space forms the arena or ruedo, a field of densely packed crushed rock (albero) that is the stage for the bullfight. Also on the ground level, the central arena is surrounded by a staging area where the bullfighters prepare and take refuge, called the callejón (alley). The callejón is separated from the arena by a wall or other structure, usually made of wood and roughly 140 cm high. The partition wall has doors for the entrance and exit of the bull (puerta de los toriles) and human participants (puerta de cuadrilla), although the form, number, and placement of these doors will vary from one bullring to another. In regular places, the wall is pushed outwards leaving splits (burladero, from burlar: to evade, to dodge) that allow the bullfighters to go in the arena and to take refuge but are too narrow for the bull. Nevertheless, on rare occasions the bull jumps the wall causing havoc in the corridor. The walls also have a type of stirrup or foothold that aids in crossing over to the central arena, and sometimes stirrups on the arena side as well; these are used mostly by event staff if they need to intervene quickly in the case of an emergency. The arena is surrounded by climbing rows of seats. The seats are priced differently according to the position of the sun during the show, normally in the afternoon. The hot sol, "sun", is cheaper than the fresher sombra, "shade".
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Bullrings evolved as specialized sporting arenas hand-in-hand with the sport that demanded them. Many of the ancient Roman amphitheatres had characteristics that can be seen in the bullrings of today (in fact the ring in Nîmes, France, is a Roman artifact, [1] though it is more elliptical than the usual plaza), and the origin of bullfighting is very closely related to certain Roman traditions; in the formative years of the sport on the Iberian Peninsula, those Roman enclosures were not commonly utilised for bullfighting events. Back when bullfighting festivals were conducted principally on horseback, the spectacle was a more public affair that took place in the city's open plaza areaIt was only later, when bullfights were conducted principally by men on foot, that the public needed a structure to house them appropriately. Initially, temporary wooden fences were erected to prevent the bulls from escaping. When bullfights became much more popular in 18th century, not only did the crowd need special seating to view the spectacle, they also needed a structure to contain the general disorder that reigned at festivals during the heyday of such legendary figures as Costillares, Pedro Romero, and Pepe-Hillo.
For centuries, early cosos (from Latin cursum, meaning course, track) were rectangular. The earliest examples are found in the Sierra de Huelva, which was the destination of transhumance routes from León, who brought some of their culture with them, including the feast of San Mamés, mostly associated with northern Spain. It was precisely in the hamlet of San Mamés, between Aroche and Rosal de la Frontera, where the oldest documented coso was built in 1599. [2] Very little of the structure of this rectangular arena remains, which has been extensively documented by local historian Antonio Rodríguez Guillén "Chamizo". [3] Another old coso was built in Almonaster la Real in 1608, and the nearby plaza from Campofrío, completed in 1718, is among the oldest with a circular shape. [4] The oldest plaza still in use, Las Virtudes in Santa Cruz de Mudela, Ciudad Real, dates from 1641 and has a square shape. The plaza from Béjar (1711) was originally rectangular and later made circular. Likewise, when the La Maestranza bullring in Seville was authorized for construction in 1730 specifically to house bullfights, the original plans called for a rectangular arena for the first three years, only later to be changed to a circular form that avoided the cornering of the action and put all viewers at the same approximate distance, the same reason for the elliptical form of amphitheatres. Another circular plaza was begun in Ronda in 1754, and it featured its first bullfights in 1782.
In the late 19th century, the Neo-Mudéjar style became in vogue for plazas, involving decoration in visible brickwork. Since the 1990s, new construction technology allows some rings to be covered permanently or temporarily.
The primary purpose of the ring is bullfighting, but it is usually limited to some festival weeks in the year. In other times, it may be used as a concert venue as in the Rock en el ruedo tour of Miguel Ríos or the live record Diamonds & Rust in the Bullring , featuring a Joan Baez concert in the Bilbao plaza.
Before the diffusion of modern sports premises, bullrings were used in the Basque Country for traditional sports similar to challenges of resistance running. The public made bets on the number of laps the runner could make. No bulls were involved.
After the battle of Badajoz (1936) of the Spanish Civil War, the Badajoz ring was used as a confinement camp for supporters of the republic and many thousands were executed there by the Nationalist forces who had just occupied the town.
Most indoor bullrings, especially in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, in addition to being used for concerts, have also been used for indoor sports such as basketball, ice hockey, boxing and lucha libre.
The most famous bullrings in the world are Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Madrid (Spain), widely regarded as the most prestigious one, La Maestranza in Seville (Spain), Campo Pequeno in Lisbon (Portugal) and Plaza de Toros México in Mexico City.[ citation needed ]
Villages round the Camargue, such as Rodilhan in the Gard, who also practise 'mise à mort' - killing the bull.
The Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, known simply as Las Ventas, is the largest bullfighting ring in Spain, located in the Guindalera quarter of the Salamanca district of Madrid. It was inaugurated on June 17, 1931. Its seating capacity of 23,798, makes it the third-largest bullfighting run in the world, after bullrings in Mexico and Venezuela. After the federal ban of bulfighting in Plaza México, Las Ventas is the second largest bullring in the world still in operation for its original intention.
The Plaza de Toros de Ronda is a Bullring in Ronda, it has a diameter of 66 metres (217 ft), surrounded by a passage formed by two rings of stone. There are two layers of seating, each with five raised rows and 136 pillars that make up 68 arches. The Royal Box has a sloping roof covered in Arabic tiles. The design of the main entrance to the bull ring features two Tuscan columns and the royal shield of Spain surround by baroque edging. The main door is large enough to allow horses and carriages to enter the ring, and above the door is an iron wrought balcony that embodies the bullfighting culture.
Francisco Rivera Pérez, better known as Paquirri, was a Spanish bullfighter. He died after being gored by a bull named Avispado at the Pozoblanco bullring. During his career, he was six times borne shoulder-high out through the Great Gate at Las Ventas.
The plaza de toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla is a 12,000-capacity bullring in Seville, Spain. During the annual Seville Fair in Seville, it is the site of one of the most well-known bullfighting festivals in the world. It is a part of the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla, a noble guild established for traditional cavalry training.
The Plaza de Torosde Acho is the premier bullring in Lima, Peru. Located beside the historical center of the Rímac District, the plaza is classified as a national historic monument. It is the oldest bullring in the Americas and the second-oldest in the world after La Maestranza in Spain. It opened on 30 January 1766.
The Spanish Fighting Bull is an Iberian heterogeneous cattle population. It is exclusively bred free-range on extensive estates in Spain, Portugal, France and Latin American countries where bullfighting is organized. Fighting bulls are selected primarily for a certain combination of aggression, energy, strength and stamina. In order to preserve their natural traits, during breeding the bulls rarely encounter humans, and if so, never encounter them on foot.
Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations.
Feria del Sol, or Carnaval Taurino de América, is an international cultural festival held in the city of Mérida, Venezuela every year in February. The Feria festival is held alongside the carnival feast. The festival includes bull competitions, cultural expositions, commercial and zootechnic expositions, concerts, parades, sports, and a voting competition for La Reina Del Sol.
Bullfighting was banned in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia by a vote of the Catalan Parliament in July 2010. The ban came into effect on 1 January 2012. The last bullfight in the region took place on 25 September 2011 at La Monumental. The ban was officially annulled for being unconstitutional by Spain's highest court on 5 October 2016. However, despite the overturning of the ban, no further bullfight had taken place in Catalonia as of July 2020.
The Plaza de Toros Monumental de Barcelona, often known simply as La Monumental, is a bullring in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was the last bullfighting arena in commercial operation in Catalonia. It was inaugurated in 1914 under the name Plaza de El Sport and was soon expanded and given its current name in 1916. It is situated at the confluence of the Gran Via and Carrer Marina in the Eixample district. It has a capacity of 19,582 within 26 rows of lines, boxes, and stands on the first floor inside and an upper gallery surrounding the building.
The Plaza de Toros de La Merced is a bullring in the Andalusian city of Huelva, Spain. The current building, which was reinaugurated in 1984 after being rehabilitated by architect Luis Marquínez, is an updated version of an old bullring, built in the years 1899 to 1902 and designed by architect Trinidad Gallego y Díaz. For years, it stood empty as bullfights were instead held at another, newer bullring that eventually had to fall to the wrecker's ball when it turned out to be unsafe. In its more than one hundred years of existence, the Merced bullring has borne witness to not only authentic glory in the Bull Festival, but also to the bullfighting figures from all eras who have filed through it. The rehabilitated bullring's foreseen capacity was 10,000, but its actual current capacity is 7,127.
Póvoa de Varzim Bullfighting Arena was a bullring in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal. It is located on Avenida Vasco da Gama, on the northern waterfront of the city. Bullfighting, horse shows, and concerts are held in the arena.
Miguel Báez Espuny, better known as "El Litri", was a Spanish bullfighter, a descendant of one of Huelva's foremost bullfighting dynasties.
Hilda Eliana Tenorio Patiño is a Mexican bullfighter and matador. She was the first woman to receive her alternativa in the Plaza de Toros México, the largest bullring in the world, aged 24. Tenorio completed her alternativa on February 28, 2010. She has been an outspoken advocate of feminism in the sport. She is the third Mexican woman to attain the rank of matador.
The Plaza de Toros de Pontevedra (Spain) is the bullring of the Spanish city of Pontevedra and the only one in the autonomous community of Galicia. It has a capacity of 7,800 spectators and is classified as the second category of Spanish bullring. The current bullring replaced a wooden one dating from 1892, although the tradition of bullfighting in Pontevedra dates back to the 17th century.
José Luis Vázquez Garcés, better known as Pepe Luis Vázquez, the same name that his son would later use professionally, was a Spanish bullfighter, considered one of 20th-century bullfighting's most significant figures.
José María Dols Samper, also known professionally as José Mari Manzanares hijo is a Spanish bullfighter and model. He has twice been borne shoulder-high out through the Great Gate at the Las Ventas bullring in Madrid.
Rafael Cerro Ginés is a Spanish bullfighter who is currently active in the world of tauromachy, albeit in a more managerial capacity nowadays.
Francisco Camino Sánchez, known in the bullfighting world as Paco Camino, was a Spanish bullfighter and bull breeder. A bullfighter of the highest order, he dominated tauromachy and was twelve times borne shoulder-high out through the Great Gate at Las Ventas in Madrid, a record bested only by Santiago Martín Sánchez.
Jesús Martínez Barrios, known as Morenito de Aranda is a Spanish bullfighter. Born in a small town in Burgos, he had no family background in bullfighting, but has nonetheless become a well known matador in his own country and abroad. His interests also extend to raising the very cattle that he fights at a farm that he established.
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