History of Bullfighting
and the Event
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There is much to be said of the origins of bullfighting,
or corrida, from the history of sacrificing bulls
in ancient Greece through Roman times there have been many
who point to an evolution of the event to a point where
it reached Spain. From the 8th century to the 15th there
is a history of the corrida taking place for Kings
and royalty, eventually changing from a fight on horseback
to one on foot. In later years it was not uncommon for an
informal corrida to take place in the towns in
Spain in a plaza which was blocked off forming what was
to later become the ring. In the late 18th century the town
of Ronda constructed the first venue specific to the event
and the Plaza de Toros in the town still stands, although
bullfights no longer take place there.
There are many books and web sites about bullfighting which
can do a much better job explaining the interworkings of
a corrida. If you wish to learn the detail and
nuances of there is much to read. I am better off giving
you the basics from my limited understanding. Six bulls
are generally part of the corrida with three toreros
for the event, each with the task of killing two bulls.
At the beginning all participants are introduced and in
a bit of ceremony the keys are petitioned to open the doors
of the bull's pen. Once the bull is released, hopefully
running directly into the ring rather than meandering his
way around, the "fight" portion begins. This is
essentially divided into the parts, or tercios:
the first tercio involves the torero using
the purple and yellow cape, or capote. A portion
of this first part is dedicated to the picaderos,
two men on horseback who use a spear or lance which they
use to weaken the bull (essentially affecting the muscles
and tendons which keeps the bull from being able to raise
it's head easily in a dangerously high position). Thankfully
the horses wear protective gear!
The
second part is called the suerte de banderillas
in which the banderilleros have the challenge of
sticking flags in the bulls back as he is charging them.
There are three banderilleros, each required to
stick two flags into the bull. The final phase is the known
as the suerte suprema, in which the
torero makes use of what we are accustomed to seeing
- a red cape, or muleta. After showing off his
skills, passion and dominance of the bull he must face the
bull down and kill it with his sword as it charges towards
him. A quick kill is a sign of true skill while several
attempts means the torero loses the praise of the
crowd. If the torero does well he may be awarded
the ear of the bull, which he may throw to the crowd. The
person sitting in front of me caught it one time and wrapped
it up to take home - who knows what they did with it!
The Venue: Plaza de Toros
de la Maestranza in Seville
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The
Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza was constructed over the
late-17th and 18th centuries and is one of the most famous
venues in all of Spain to take in a bullfight. On a side
note: before the construction of the Plaza de Toros corridas
In Sevilla were held in the Plaza de San Francisco which
was specially prepared for the events. Located on the Paseo
de Colon, in the center and alongside the river Guadalquivir,
it's hard to miss The Plaza de Toros with it's baroque facade,
painted white with yellow trim. The ring is oval in shape
rather than a perfect circle, a detail which can be seen
well from the Giralda. In the beginning of the 20th century
the Plaza de Toros was renovated by architect Aníbal
Gonzalez, who is perhaps best know for his design of the
Plaza de España. Gonzalez also added several of the
buildings around the main structure including the Museo
de la Real Maestranza de Sevilla, the chapel or capilla,
as well as the social quarters for the Real Maestranza
de Caballería. The Museum holds a number of posters,
clothing and other items related to bullfighting in the
city of Sevilla. Included among the exhibits is a cape painted
by Picasso.
2009 Seville Bullfight
Schedule
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The 2009 schedule has been posted below. Bullfights
begin with the end of Semana Santa on the Domingo de
Resurección, which generally falls in April.
From that Sunday (2009 it will be April 12th) there is a short break and then through
the Feria de Abril you can see a bullfight every day. After
the Feria there are less frequent corridas with
the season practically ending around July, with the exception
of late September when there are two bullfights during the
Feria de San Miguel and one event to be decided on October
12th. This is the official schedule, and each year a few additional events pop up on the calendar. Examples from last year were a few weekends in July (novilladas) as well as one for 15 August (corrida de toros). Additional novilladas were also included in early September. Tickets can be purchased at the Plaza de Toros itself
or in some of the ventas for events in the city
one of which is located on Calle Tetuan in the main shopping
district. Seats are divided into sombra, or shade
which is the best option; sol, or sun which worst
option where you will sweat while staring into the sun;
or sol y sombra (sun and shade - you get a bit
of both as the sun moves and this is a good middle ground.
Prices will depend on your decision, the toreros and whether
it is an actual corrida de toros (the big bulls
and hence the better toreros) or a novillada
(smaller bulls with less experienced toreros).
Below is the 2009 schedule, finally updated!
2009 |
Day (time) |
Toreros |
Type (Ganadería) |
12 April |
Sunday
18:30 |
Domingo de Resurreccion:
Morante de la Puebla, El Cid y José María Manzanares |
Corrida de Toros (Zalduendo)
|
17
April |
Friday
18:30 |
Pepe Moral, Miguel Ángel Delgado y Miguel Tendero |
Novillada (Celestino Cuadri)
|
18
April |
Saturday
18:30 |
Curro Díaz, Miguel Abellán y César Girón |
Corrida de Toros (José Luis Pereda-La Dehesilla) |
19
April |
Sunday
18:30 |
Fermín Bohórquez, Hermoso de Mendoza y Diego Ventura |
.
Rejones (Fermin Bohórquez) |
20
April |
Monday
18:30 |
Joselillo, Rafaelillo y Luis Vilches |
Corrida de Toros
(Conde de la Maza) |
21
April |
Tuesday
18:30 |
El Fundi, Sergio Aguilar y Salvador Cortés |
Corrida de Toros (Palha) |
22
April |
Wednesday
18:30 |
Antonio Barrera, Juan Bautista y Luis Bolívar |
Corrida de Toros (Peñajara) |
23
April |
Thursday
18:30 |
Morante de la Puebla y El Cid, mano a mano |
Corrida de Toros (Victorino
Martín) |
24
April |
Friday
18:30 |
Enrique Ponce, José María Manzanares y Daniel Luque |
Corrida de Toros (Torreón) |
25
April |
Saturday
18:30 |
El Juli, El Cid y Alejandro Talavante |
Corrida de Toros (El Ventorrillo) |
26
April |
Sunday
18:30 |
Finito de Córdoba, Morante de la Puebla y Sebastián Castella |
Corrida de Toros (Jandilla) |
27
April |
Monday
18:30 |
Feria:
Rivera Ordóñez, El Juli y José María Manzanares. |
Corrida de Toros (Daniel Ruiz) |
28
April |
Tuesday
18:30 |
Feria:
Enrique Ponce, Morante de la Puebla y Antonio Nazaré |
Corrida de Toros
(Juan Pedro Domecq) |
29
April |
Wednesday
18:30 |
Feria:
El Cid, Sebastián Castella y Daniel Luque |
Corrida de Toros (Puerto de San Lorenzo) |
30
April |
Thursday
18:30 |
Feria:
Fandi, José María Manzanares y Alejandro Talavante |
Corrida de Toros (Torrealta) |
1
May |
Friday
18:30 |
Feria:
Antonio Ferrera, Salvador Vega y Matías Tejela |
Corrida de Toros (Fuente Ymbro)
|
2
May |
Saturday
18:30 |
Feria:
Luis Francisco Esplá, El Cordobés y Javier Conde |
Corrida de Toros
(Benítez-Cubero) |
3
May |
Sunday
12:00 |
Feria, morning:
Antonio Domecq, Rui Fernandes, Andy Cartagena, Diego Ventura, Leonardo Hernández y Moura hijo
|
Rejones (Miura)
|
3
May |
Sunday
18:30 |
Feria, afternoon:
El Fundi, Juan José Padilla y Javier Valverde |
Corrida de Toros
(Miura) |
10
May |
Sunday
tba |
Dámaso González, Juan Luis Rodríguez y Ernesto Javier "Calita" |
Corrida de Toros (Villamarta) |
17 May |
Sunday
tba
|
Javier Velázquez, Miguel Giménez y Juan Carlos Cabello |
Novillada con Picadores (Herederos de Salvador Guardiola)
|
24 May |
Sunday
tba |
Román Pérez, Daniel Sotillo y un tercero por designar |
Novillada con Picadores (Juan Antonio Ruiz Román)
|
7
Jun |
Sunday
tba |
Fernando Tendero, Joao Augusto Moura y un tercero por designar |
Novillada con Picadores (Montealto) |
11
Jun |
Thursday
|
Corrida del Corpus:
Pedro Carrero, Calita,
tbd |
Corrida de Toros (Gerardo Ortega)
|
14 Jun |
Thursday
tba |
Salvador Barberán, Luis Miguel Casares y un tercero por designar |
Novillada con Picadores (El Torreón) |
21 Jun |
Sunday
tba |
Sandra Moscoso, Juan Mari Rodríguez y un tercero por designar |
Novillada con Picadores (Macandro)
|
28
Jun |
Sunday
tba |
Diego Lleonart, Rafael Castellanos y un tercero por designar |
Novillada con Picadores (Javier Molina) |
26
Sep. |
Saturday
tba |
Feria de San Miguel:
Morante de la Puebla, El Cid y Sebastián Castella |
Corrida de Toros
(Parladé) |
27
Sep. |
Sunday
tba |
Feria de San Miguel:
Antonio Ferrera, Alejandro Talavante y Daniel Luque |
Corrida de Toros
(Alcurrucén) |
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