Bullfighting in Spain has its origins during the 8 long centuries of the Spanish
War of Reconquest (711-1492 A.D.) when the knights of both the Moors and
Christians would organize hunting competitions as a respite from killing
each other and they soon realized that of all the prey the Iberian bull
offered the greatest challenge as unlike other animals it preferred to die
fighting rather than fleeing.It’s probable that a nobleman captured a few brave beasts and took them to his village in order to recreate the thrill of the hunt before his admiring subjects. Thus some remote part of Medieval Spain saw the origins of what is today the national Spanish spectacle of bullfighting.
The history of bullfighting recalls that the first real bullfight, took place in 1133 at Vera, Logroño in honour of the coronation of King Alfonso VIII. From then on they became a popular pass time at many important events. King Philip II however was disgusted by it and recruited the help of Pope Pius V to get it banned by paper decree. Other favourable delights were enjoyed by noble society while peasants continued the bullfight with enthusiasm and thus it became a symbol of something genuinely Spanish.
By 1726 they were ready to adopt their first bullfighting hero ‘Francisco Romero’ from Ronda. He was a man of humble origins who became the first professional bullfighter in Spain. The spectacle developed into an art form. He introduced the estoque, sword and muleta.
Today's bullfight is much as it was developed in the time of Romero. Six bulls and three matadors are required for an afternoon’s corrida. The three matadors dressed in their trajes de luces (suit of lights) enter the arena accompanied by their banderilleros and picadors and the strains of a traditional paso doble. The door to the toril, or bull pen, is opened and one of the bulls makes his entrance into the arena.The matador greets it with a series of passes with a large cape (Capote).These passes are usually Verónicas, the basic cape pass (named after the woman who held out a cloth to Christ on his way to the crucifixion). Bulls charge the movement not the colour of the cape (they are colour blind).The second part of the bullfight is the job of the mounted picadors who lance at the bull. Next banderilleros on foot place their pairs of spear headed sticks in the bulls shoulders to lower its head. After this the faena or final act of the performance will begin. The muleta (red cape) is used to perform sequences of passes which display the bullfighter’s artistry. The ‘natural’ pass is one in which the danger to the matador is increased as the estoque is removed from the muleta thus reducing the target size and tempting the bull to charge at the larger object, the bullfighter.
The matador tries to electrify the crowd by moving closer and closer to the horns, finally he lines the bull up for the kill.The blade has to pass through the small space between the shoulder blades for this space to be open the bulls feet have to be parallel and his head down as the bullfighter rushes over the horns to make the thrust by plunging the estoque between the withers into the region of the aorta. This requires considerable skill and discipline, not to mention a certain amount of raw courage and for this reason is known as "el momento de la verdad" or the moment of truth.
Many have a strong opinion about the bullfight be it pro or con as I myself do on the food chain. It is not my intention to be judgmental here but merely to report a few facts about the art. All opinions are to be respected.
© Author: Gisela Gina
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