The Most Uncomfortable Vegetarian in the Room

I love putting on a pair of boots and heading down to the rodeo. Occasionally they're a bit hard for me to watch, but in general, they're all in good fun. But the bullfight I went to last night was not fun.

I've been vegetarian for 14 years. That's a LOT of time, more than half of my life, in fact. Part of the reason I chose to become vegetarian was because I felt such empathy for animals; I don't think it's right for us as humans to be killing off other animals for sport or food. We have so many other options in our lives that, in my eyes, there's really no reason to kill to survive.

The band (sorry bout the pillar)

Getting the bull to go in a full circle

My experience

I went to the bullfight knowing full well that they would kill the bulls, I just wasn't expecting it to be as intense as it was. At first, the atmosphere was electric. Everyone was excited, vendors were walking up and down the aisles, and the band was playing an upbeat tune. But then, a pair of men on horseback rode out and the entire ring went silent. In fact the entire event was silent, except for select moments when applause was expected (i.e. killing the bull, stabbing the bull, getting the bull to stab itself by getting it to trip, or switching to the red cape). Whenever tourists broke the spell, they were immediately shushed.

The first thing I noticed was that the bull seemed to be trained. It followed commands, and became more and more reluctant to charge. This made it harder and harder to watch because the bull seemed like a person. As the "fight" continued, it kept stopping to see if it had to go on. Even from the top row of the stadium I could see the confusion in its eyes.

Humiliating the bull by causing him to flip over

In the beginning, they were just taunting it, trying to get it to flip over by charging too close to the ground. They also tried to get it to run in 3 full circles around the matador, shouting "Ole!" every time it completed a circle.

Then came the lances, not even ten minutes into the corrida.

A horseman rode out, and speared the bull through the shoulders, leaving the spear in for quite some time. At this point, the bull was foaming at the mouth, peeing, and bleeding because it was so traumatized. It was really, really, hard to watch. Many people in our group were crying, especially 2 other vegetarians.

Notice the 4 sets of nunchucks in its
back, as well as 2 stab wounds.

But it got worse. The bull was then stabbed by each of the matadores in the shoulder blades using "banderillas" which look like barbed sticks. They left these hanging from the shoulders of the bull to weaken it and lower its head for the next stage of the corrida.

The next section, the one with the red cape (called a muleta in spanish), was worse. The matadores held swords, and when they got the chance, they would plunge them into the back of the bull and let them hang there. This is when I had to stop watching.

Classic matador pose when they brought out the red cape

But I was listening, and a friend of mine filled me in afterwards. The next step was killing the bull, which was done by stabbing it through the top of its spinal cord.The matadores circled around it, wiping off their blades as the audience gave a
standing ovation.

(But if I remember correctly from neuroscience, this would only paralyze it from the neck down unless they actually hit brain. I was going to google it, but then I thought "Eh, better not".)

Then, the worst thing I had ever seen; they lashed the body to four horses (while it was still foaming at the mouth and bleeding, mind you) and made them parade it around the ring while people applauded and whistled.

Bull standing, not wanting to fight, looking for its trainer

It wasn't over, but I was definitely not sticking around; there were still 5 bulls to go. This weekend alone they will kill 18 bulls.

So why do they do it?

Part of the opening processional. those two horses in front
would later carry lances and the four horses in the back
would drag out the body

In Spain, it's tradition. Instead of viewing it as a competition, they view it as an art form based in style, skill, and bravery. I spoke with my host mother afterwards, and apparently we witnessed a "bad fight". The bull should always be running and charging the largest moving object, be much angrier, and the kill should be done much like a pole vault, with the matador getting the beast right between the shoulder blades and vaulting over him.

It's viewed here much like a ballet, with specific  and graceful movements. The matadores start studying this balance between grace and danger starting at a very young age. The closer a matador can get to the bull without getting
hit, the better he is. In the words of my host mother, "It is a fight of controlling danger". The matador could easily die at the horns of the angry, 1,000 lb animal. (Luckily, there are always ambulances waiting outside the ring.)

My host mother says that occasionally there is an "indulto" or pardon. This is when the bull fights so valiantly, and behaves beautifully, that they send it to a farm to breed the next generation of bulls. She says these are her favorite fights.

I'm glad I got to experience this important part of Spanish history, but it's just not a dance I can get behind. But if I had to go back and make the choice to go, I think I still would. It was very eye opening, and I know a lot more about the history and tradition now.