Bullfighting

The oldest representation of what seems to be a man facing a bull is on the Celtiberian tombstone from Clunia and the cave painting El toro de hachos, both found in Spain.

The latter theory was supported by Robert Graves (picadors are related to warriors who wielded the javelin, but their role in the contest is now a minor one limited to "preparing" the bull for the matador.)

"[9] In the time of Emperor Charles V, Pedro Ponce de Leon was the most famous bullfighter in Spain and a renovator of the technique of killing the bull on a horse with blindfolded eyes.

As a result of the injury and also the fatigue of striving to injure the armoured heavy horse, the bull holds its head and horns slightly lower during the following stages of the fight.

[citation needed] In the final stage, the tercio de muerte ("a third of death"), the matador re-enters the ring alone with a smaller red cloth, or muleta, and a sword.

Often this does not happen and repeated efforts must be made to bring the bull down, sometimes the matador changing to the 'descabello', which resembles a sword, but is actually a heavy dagger blade at the end of a steel rod which is thrust between the cervical vertebrae to sever the spinal column and induce instant death.

Recortes differ from corridas in the following manners:[17] Comical spectacles based on bullfighting, called espectáculos cómico-taurinos or charlotadas, are still popular in Spain and Mexico.

Before the events that are held in the ring, people (usually young men) run in front of a small group of bulls that have been let loose, on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets.

[citation needed] A toro embolado (in Spanish), bou embolat (in Catalan), roughly meaning "bull with balls", is a festive activity held at night and typical of many towns in Spain (mainly in the Valencian Community and Southern Catalonia).

[20] Since the 19th century, Spanish-style corridas have been increasingly popular in Southern France where they enjoy legal protection in areas where there is an uninterrupted tradition of such bull fights, particularly during holidays such as Whitsun or Easter.

Among France's most important venues for bullfighting are the ancient Roman arenas of Nîmes and Arles, although there are bull rings across the South from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic coasts.

The participants, or raseteurs, begin training in their early teens against young bulls from the Camargue region of Provence before graduating to regular contests held principally in Arles and Nîmes but also in other Provençal and Languedoc towns and villages.

[citation needed] The media often reports the more horrific of bullfighting injuries, such as the September 2011 goring of matador Juan José Padilla's head by a bull in Zaragoza, resulting in the loss of his left eye, use of his right ear, and facial paralysis.

[55] A February 2018 study commissioned by the 30 millions d'amis foundation and conducted by the Institut français d'opinion publique (IFOP) found that 74% of the French wanted to prohibit bullfighting in France, with 26% opposed.

The bullfighting fair held in honor of the annual Señor de los Milagros festival takes place at the plaza on Sundays through October and November.

"[64] Alexander Fiske-Harrison, who trained as a bullfighter to research for his book on the topic (and trained in biological sciences and moral philosophy before that), has pointed out that the bull lives three times longer than do cattle reared exclusively for meat, and lives wild during that period in meadows and forests which are funded by the premium the bullfight's box office adds on to the price of their meat, should be taken into account when weighing concerns about both animal welfare and the environment.

The bulk of subsidies is paid by town halls in localities where there is a historical tradition and support for bullfighting and related events, which are often held free of charge to participants and spectators.

"[69] In the late 19th and early 20th century, some Spanish regeneracionista intellectuals protested against what they called the policy of pan y toros ("bread and bulls"), an analogue of Roman panem et circenses.

[73] Despite its long history in Barcelona, bullfighting was outlawed across the Catalonia region in 2010 following a campaign led by an animal-rights civic platform called "Prou!"

[92][failed verification] A growing list of Spanish, Portuguese and South American cities and regions have formally declared their bullfighting celebrations as part of their protected cultural patrimony or heritage.

Chile banned bullfighting shortly after gaining independence in 1818, but the Chilean rodeo (which involves horseriders in an oval arena blocking a female cow against the wall without killing it) is still legal and has even been declared a national sport.

[102] Following the Spanish–American War, the Americans suppressed the custom in the Philippines under the tenure of Governor General Leonard Wood, and it was replaced with a now-popular Filipino sport, basketball.

[112] After a bullring collapse in June 2022 occurred in the municipality of El Espinal in the Tolima department, resulting in the deaths of four people and injured hundreds,[113] opened a new debate on the legality and safety of the corralejas and bullfights throughout the country.

A bill presented that year on 21 July by Deputy Juan Carlos Lozada, from the Liberal Party, was approved by the First Commission of the Chamber in the first debate, and is based on eliminating bullfighting practices in the national territory.

The law seeks to eventually weed out bullfighting in the country in the next three years, while it stamps out practices of killing the bulls in the arena, attacking them with pikes or handheld harpoons.

Animal rights activists launched a lawsuit to make sure it was completely removed from the heritage list and thus not given extra legal protection; the Administrative Appeals Court of Paris ruled in their favour in June 2015.

115-2015 ─ Animal Protection and Welfare Act' that went into effect in 2016, dog and cat fights and duck races are prohibited, while 'bullfighting shows and cockfights are part of the National Folklore and as such allowed'.

[133] On 23 January 2017 the Tamil Nadu legislature passed a bi-partisan bill, with the accession of the Prime Minister, exempting jallikattu from the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960).

[143] The country's highest court temporarily revoked a local ruling that sided with animal rights activists, allowing the events to take place again in the Plaza México, the world's largest bullfighting arena.

[148] In 2002, the Portuguese government gave Barrancos, a village near the Spanish border where bullfighting fans stubbornly persisted in encouraging the killing of bulls during fights, a dispensation from the 1928 ban.