The bull struck its horn deep into his thigh. Seconds later, the same horn speared his neck. Before thousands of anxious eyes and terrified faces, Luis de Pauloba was rushed out of the bullring and into the infirmary. From there, an ambulance hurried him more than 150 kilometres from Cuenca to Madrid. Even after Pauloba had received four litres of blood transfusions, the doctors weren’t optimistic. “They told me that I was going to die because it had almost touched my brain,” Pauloba says. “It was a very unpleasant wound.” Remarkably, in less than five months, Pauloba was back in the ring. “I always had the mentality that after that wound I was going to bullfight. Physically, of … [Read more...] about Promise of death in the afternoon keeps bullfighting alive for fans
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Bullfighting: Fighting for its future
Bullfighting has been banned in Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia, but travel south and you find that the tradition and support for bullfighting grows. Seville is no exception. And those involved in bullfighting, an event that finds its origins in the 18th century, recognize the battle they face. Nonetheless, they remain confident that the tradition will continue to thrive in the country’s thousands of bullrings. "In Andalusia, no. Short term, medium term and long term, no,” says bullfighting journalist Álvaro R. del Moral regarding the possible prohibition of bullfights in Southern Spain. “Here things are very clear.” If Del Moral’s prediction is to prove accurate, interest … [Read more...] about Bullfighting: Fighting for its future
Bullfighting in the political ring
Rich in tradition and explicit in diversity, Spain is a country constantly suffering an identity crisis. Liberalism and democracy were born along with nationalism and separatism after Francisco Franco’s death in 1975. While Spain’s official language is Spanish, a handful of regional languages are spoken across the country. In the northeastern region of Catalonia, people speak Catalan. Citizens from the southern region of Andalusia speak Spanish. A citizen from Seville might not be able to read Avui (a Barcelona-based newspaper printed in Catalan), but when the Catalan government passed a law last summer to close the only remaining bullring in Barcelona in 2012, the bullfighting … [Read more...] about Bullfighting in the political ring
Bullfighting’s Catalan accent
It was meant to be a reasoned, informed debate about the pros and cons of bullfighting. Politicians, philosophers, writers, scientists and even a bullfighter were all due to give their views on the fiesta nacional and whether or not it should be banned in Catalonia. And yet, in one session alone, crucifixion, Colombian kidnappings and female circumcision were all invoked, insults such as “intellectual pigmy” and “hypocrite” were used and at one point, the scientist Jorge Wagensberg pulled out a sword to illustrate how much spearing the weapon into a bull’s back would hurt the animal. This passionate and often fractious debate was the result of a petition by anti-bullfighting … [Read more...] about Bullfighting’s Catalan accent