The Spanish tradition of bullfighting

I am not going to go into details about bullfighting.  Nor am I going to defend it or trash it.  I don't have the right to do so and will not use this blog to debate it - although I know that everyone has their opinion as it's a very polemic subject.  So if you prefer not to read this post then that's fine with me... but I hope that it doesn't put you off the blog about Alicante life!

I took my nephew and auntie who were visiting from the UK as they were interested in the experience, otherwise I wouldn't have gone.  That's what happens frequently - lots of people are curious about it and the only way to decide if it's something that they want to appreciate is to go and see one.  Final outcome for the bull aside, would you know that you liked football if you had never seen a match?  In this post I would just like to give you some extra information about what goes on (not about the fight itself) if one day you are over here and want to go.

Ticket prices, seating and attire

Tickets for bullfights in Alicante can be bought directly at the ticket office in the bullring from a few weeks before the event or up to a few minutes before it if there are any spaces.  The prices of the seats depend upon the distance from the centre circle and if it is within the shady side (sombra) or the sunny side (sol) of the ring.  My seat cost 23€ and it was 15 rows back on the sunny side.  Tickets in the shady side are a lot more as the heat can be very uncomfortable in the sunny side and there is a premium for this.  However, as the event starts at 7pm the sun starts to set and no too long after (depending how high up you are sat) you could find yourself in the shade.  If you do sit in the sunny side be sure to take a hat, sunglasses and a fan with you though!

This photo above was taken about an hour and a half into the bullfight and you can see the shade creeping up the rows.  Usually at the 7pm start exactly half of the bullring is in the sun and half in the shade.  By the end, most or all of the seats are in the shade.  However, some people manage not to pay for the entrance fee but have to put up with the sun...

The rows are very close to each other and your knees are usually touching the back of the person sitting in front of you in the Alicante ring.  It's quite difficult to get to your seat, which is actually a bench, and you have to step on the rows of benches to get up or down to your numbered space from the entrance stairway into the ring (tendero).  As its also quite hot here in June I would recommend comfortable clothing and nothing that you mind getting messy as anything can happen from people spilling their beer to spectators getting excited and throwing their sandwiches in the air (yes, one landed on a lady in front of me at this one).

Some people hire white seat cushions at about 2€ each if they want to be more comfortable but I have never needed one.  These cushions get thrown onto the sand in the central ring after the event is over so that they can be collected easily but be careful - some people cannot throw straight and they end up falling quite hard on the people in the rows below! 

The Manzanares effect

Normal bullfights consist of 3 matadors (bullfighters) and 6 toros (bulls) from the same ganadero (ranch) and is organised like this:

Bull 1 - Bullfighter 1

Bull 2 - Bullfighter 2

Bull 3 - Bullfighter 3

Bull 4 - Bullfighter 1

Bull 5 - Bullfighter 2

Bull 6 - Bullfighter 3

The event that I went to was a mixed bullfight (corrida de toros mixta) with one of the bullfighters on horseback (rejoneo) and the other two as normal, and the bulls were from different ranches.  What was also special about this particular event was that two of the bullfighters were brothers and from Alicante itself.  The bullring was packed and I don't think that there was a seat left!

The two brothers are quite young and good-looking and are especially popular amongst fellow Alicantinos.  Manuel Manzanares was the bullfighter mounted on horseback and José María Manzanares fighting on foot.  The other bullfighter in this event was Enrique Ponce and is a very famous and experienced bullfighter.

I have to say that the three or so different horses that Manuel Manzanares used in his fight were all absolutely beautiful.  This is a special breed of horse kind of like the Spanish Lipizzaners, and they danced so elegantly and he managed them very well.  He carried out his task and it was very nice to see it done a different way.

Interesting information

As the bull comes out of the gate and into the ring, a board displays the origin of the bull, its ranch and its weight.  They are usually around 450kg to 520kg, which is a lot of bull!

The luck of the montera

A bullfighter's hat is called a montera.  One of the traditions that a bullfighter does when he is starting his fight is to take off his hat and throw it up in the air behind him.  If it lands the right way up then the bullfighter will have a 'luck'.  If it lands the wrong way up then maybe the fight will not have a good outcome for the matador.

The social occasion

I, like many others, find the atmosphere of a corrida de toros the most enjoyable thing about the event.  There are lots of excited people shouting olé, you can hear the various bands playing their trumpets and banging drums, and most of all you can take your own food and drink!  The friends who I go with usually take a cool box full of beers, french bread sandwiches (bocadillos) and bags of crisps and seeds (pipas) to snack on.  It is way after lunch time and before the Spanish evening meal time but just about everybody takes something along to consume.  The bullfights are about 2 and a half hours long and there is a break between the 3rd and 4th bull so naturally to the Spanish food and drink just accompany the social occasion.

Some people take a bota which is a bag made of leather to carry wine or drinks that a long time ago workers who were outside all day used to carry with them.

None, one or two - squeamish ones don't read this section please!

The quality of the fight is judged by an official group sitting in the balcony on the shady side with the red fabric cover.  They make their judgement but also spectators try to influence their decision by waving white handkerchiefs at them.  If the president thinks that the fight was very well done then he will quickly drape his long white handkerchief over the balcony.  If it was OK then he doesn't respond.  If it was an exceptional fight then he will drape this same white cloth twice.

This corresponds into the number of bulls ears that the bullfighter is awarded as a token.  They are cut off the the bull when he is dead in the ring (sorry!) and given to the bullfighter to take on his lap of honour.  The worst thing is that the bullfighter usually throws them into the crowd as a gift!  Yuk!!!

Lap of honour

The bullfighters do a lap of honour after each fight accompanied by their team and their fans throw them bunches of flowers and other gifts.  Sometimes, if hats or other personal items are thrown to the bullfighter, he picks it up and throws it back to the person, all as a sign of mutual respect.

Here is Manuel Manzanares doing his lap of honour in his rejoneo costume, not the typical traje de luces (suit of lights) that bullfighters wear because he worked on horseback.

Then as I mentioned before, at the end of the whole event, some people who hired a seat cushion throw it into the centre circle to be collected.  Watch your heads!

At the end of this bullfight (above), a small child ran into the ring and started to display his bullfighting skills!  I don't know how that went down with José María Manzanares as he was still doing his lap of honour on his team's shoulders.


So my nephew stuck it out until the end but my auntie left after the 3rd bull.  I totally understand but if you are curious then you might as well go and see one bullfight to be able to decide.  If you go, keep an open mind and also look at it as a traditional form of art and display bravery for the macho Spanish.