Special Cultural Status for Los Toros in Spain

[Holly]

A committee of the Spanish Congress has voted to award La Gran Fiesta Nacional de España (Bulls) a "special cultural status worthy of protection" throughout the entire country. This means public funds can be used to promote the institution. The committee's recommendation now goes for a vote in the senate. It is uncertain how this will affect regions where the corrida has been banned such as Catalonia and Islas Canarias.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ed-status.html


Andres Loca Rey

[C. Flower]

A bad day for bulls, perhaps.

[Ephilant]

Not if the Brazilian street artists have it their way....

[Holly]

There has been much talk of gypsies and culture on political world just recently. Well, gypsies have played an important role in la corrida and some are counted among the best matadors. One such is Javier Conde from Málaga. In this clip from a performance a few years ago in Sevilla you can see some elements of his style. He will use the muleta in a natural way (not extended with the sword) which makes the lure smaller and brings the bull closer to him. Notice how his feet do not give ground as the bull passes but remain motionless. This was in La Maestranza, Seville, where the crowd are quieter than other plazas. There, the music plays only when a performance is particularly good. You will notice the montera (hat) has been thrown to the ground which means that Conde has dedicated his performance to the public. He placed the sword up to the hilt with one perfect aim. The waving of white handkerchiefs is the way the public ask for an award to be granted by the president.

[C. Flower]

Las Ventas bullfighting festival in Madrid has been suspended for the first time in 35 years as the bulls hospitalised the 3 matadors.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...s-9414866.html

[Ogiol]

Had a good laugh at this on FB.. some good cartoons done up too

[yi25]

This should go the same way as fox hunting...**** fighting and badger baiting, out the gap. Maybe the Italians should bring back the "games" and gladiator fighting. These "sports" are just plain cruelty to an animal that hasn't harmed anyone.

[PaddyJoe]

So three FG MEPs have voted against cutting CAP subsidies to ganaderos.

In a vote in Strasbourg on Wednesday, 438 of the 687 MEPs present backed an amendment calling for a ban on Common Agricultural Policy subsidies for “lethal bullfighting activities”.
Fine Gael MEPs Deirdre Clune, Mairead McGuinness and Seán Kelly voted against the amendment, although Dublin MEP Brian Hayes voted for it, saying: “I believed it was the right thing to do.” Last year, he abstained in a similar vote.

The European Parliament vote could mean that long-standing subsidies, paid annually to Spanish bull-breeders, could now stop. That could be enough to make it uneconomic to continue.
However, Ms Clune, who represents the Ireland South constituency, said that bullfighting is “a matter for the Spanish people and their democratically elected representatives to decide” under EU subsidiarity rules.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/irela...1.2410802Looks like Enda got the message from the ruling Spanish Partido Popular at the last European People's Party get together.

[Binn Beal]

I went to a bullfight once in Seville and it was truly appalling. What a dreadful way to kill a cow!
It would be similar to charging in to the local abattoir for the afternoon show and there would be the same amount of skill and poise and courage.

[PaddyJoe]

Something I hadn't realised before I went to see the toreo is that the bull is weakened from loss of blood and futile charging at the picadors for around 20 minutes before the matador faces it. Puts a very different complexion on the so called 'bravery' of the matador. Nobody actually faces a bull that's fresh.

[Binn Beal]

Nobody actually faces a bull that's fresh.

Indeed. The muscles in the neck have been so damaged by the darts and the pikes as to prevent the bull from raising its head or making sudden moves. It's all theatre. Very occasionally a bull will have the strength left or will be so tormented as to make a spirited final resistance but the outcome is predictable. Crossing a field in Clare at breeding time would require more courage than poncing about in tights for the applause of the crowd.

[TotalMayhem]

Crossing a field in Clare at breeding time would require more courage than poncing about in tights for the applause of the crowd.

Back off!

[Sam Lord]

I went to a bullfight once in Seville and it was truly appalling. What a dreadful way to kill a cow!
It would be similar to charging in to the local abattoir for the afternoon show and there would be the same amount of skill and poise and courage.

A Spanish fighting bull bears no resemblance to a cow. And they bear little resemblance to what you might consider a dangerous bull in a field in Ireland. They have been bred over time to me extremely aggressive, lethal animals. Comparing one to a cow is a bit like comparing a kitten to a lion. A fighting bull detached from it's group will without thinking twice happily attack and effectively kill anything in eyesight.

Bullfighters often demonstrate great poise and courage. The aesthetic aspect of the sport was captured well by Hemmingway in "Death in the afternoon". It is actually a very good introduction to the sport for anyone interested.

I'm not saying that I support bullfighting. But one doesn't need to totally misrepresent it in order to be opposed.

[Sam Lord]

Indeed. The muscles in the neck have been so damaged by the darts and the pikes as to prevent the bull from raising its head or making sudden moves. It's all theatre. Very occasionally a bull will have the strength left or will be so tormented as to make a spirited final resistance but the outcome is predictable. Crossing a field in Clare at breeding time would require more courage than poncing about in tights for the applause of the crowd.

Over 500 notable matadors have been killed in the last 300 years. And there have not been that many notable matadors.

In recent decades with the development of medical techniques (and the Spanish have developed great expertise in treating horn wounds)and antibiotics the number of deaths has decreased but it is still commonplace for a matador to be gored often with horrific results as in the following case:

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. He returned to bullfighting five months later with an eyepatch, multiple titanium plates in his skull, and the nickname 'The Pirate'

Whatever ones views on bullfighting I think it is unbecoming to question the bravery of many matadors.

[Sam Lord]

The life of a matador:

Saul Jimenez Fortes, a prominent matador, was gored Sunday at the Feria de San Isidro bullfighting festival in Salamanca, Spain, the horn going up through his chin and reaching the base of his skull, according to reports.

It was his first time back in the ring since May, when he was gored in the neck and lifted on the bull’s horn into his neck, a horrific injury that required several hours of surgery and several months of recuperation.

Jiménez Fortes sufrió 2 cornadas en el cuello y su estado de salud es grave pero estable http://t.co/7ZnpeT339g pic.twitter.com/WitGSz3LF0

— CANCHA (@canchamural) May 14, 2015

“It is a tremendous goring, but now we just wait,” spokesman Matthias Nemesio said of Fortes’ latest recovery, according to a translation from La Voz de Galicia, which is expected to take — again — a few months.

It’s his eighth goring in two years, and El Mundo reported it was worse than the previous goring, which occurred in Madrid.