Corrida de Torres

Last night many of us chose to opt out of a restaurant night with friends to witness one of the oldest, most exciting, and most controversial Spanish traditions, the bull fight. After a short train ride to San Fernando we arrived at the arena and found our seats in the less expensive seats on the sunny side. Earlier that day, many of us had learned about the roles the different colorfully costumed men and horses played in the fight, we had some understanding of what was happening when a man riding a heavilly armored horse was trying to stab the bull as it charged at him. Depending on your point of view, we were either very lucky or very unfortunate to witness a particularly dramatic bull fight where the matador was nearly trampled by the bull, and a sword flew out of the horses back, nearly hitting a spectator in the first row. No one was injured, but it did make for some frightening moments and amazing action shots. Many spaniards are strongly against this unique tradition, as the point of it is to torture an animal to death. While at times graphic and bloody, I found the bull fight to be an exciting way to witness aspects of traditional spanish culture first hand. I was far more impressed by the colorful, ornate costumes, and the bravado and excellent horsemanship of the matadors.