What is the significance of bullfighting to spanish culture

You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Historical Significance of Bullfighting Bullfighting was first introduced during the second half of the War of Reconquista by men who carried the responsibility of maintaining social order in the Iberian peninsula, among the three distinct religions present there, Christians, Jews and Moors.

The introduction of bullfighting into the Spanish culture had extremely positive effects, including: All three distinct religions were included into this realm of bullfighting providing merit for future communal negotiations and peace Through the violent ritual of bullfighting, harmony was sustained throughout the three kingdoms The Iberians, who were the first inhabitants of Spain, idolized the bull and it was an extremely important figure in their mythology.

As the popularity of bullfighting began to grow, so did the level of breeding specializations which took place: Cross-breeding certain breeds of bulls to typecast a certain kind of bull who was large, strong and aggressive; a prime fighting bull The most feral, aggressive animals selected for public fiestas and bullfights The Lidia bull being raised on a farm.

Lidia bull in the bullfighting ring. Some of these bull-rings are almost like cathedrals to bullfighting, vast arenas that can hold thousands of spectators. And the days the bullfighting takes place the whole town has a carnival atmosphere. Today there is much opposition to bullfighting and this is also happening in Spain; in fact in Catalunya bullfighting has been completely banned and it looks like other regions of Spain are ready to follow suit.

How much of this is conscience or outside pressure is not certain but nevertheless there is a considerable groundswell of opposition towards bullfighting.

The result of the ban in Catalunya meant that there was thousands of jobs that were lost that were associated with all aspects of bullfighting.

And this included people that bred and raised the animals to those that took care of them. This loss of traditional jobs in Spain has not gone down well in many quarters, but the grim facts are that over twenty thousand bulls are killed each year in this practice and over thirty million people go to watch the event.

To the outsider bullfighting is a gruesome event, but for Spaniards it is in their DNA. By the Middle Ages the aristocracy amused itself by watching bullfights on horseback. By the 18 th Century the bullfighting on horseback style was largely abandoned in favor of bullfighting by foot.

This was more popular among the poorer population as it was much more affordable. A key figure in establishing the rules for the new bull sport was named Francisco Romero. A bullfight , known as a corrida de toro in Spanish , is divided into several stages that occur chronologically. In this section we will briefly explain what to expect if you decide to see a bullfight on your next visit to Spain.

Once the door is opened and the first bull enters the ring, the first stage of the event begins. Each bullfight features three bullfighters who will face two bulls each in separate fights.