Las Ventas - bull fighting ring

Our first stop after dropping off our luggage at the hostel was the bull ring in Madrid.  There were a few scalpers trying to sell us tickets to a show, but they didn't try too hard.  We got our audio guides and began the self tour.  I had no idea that bull fighting was such a complex sport!  The guide explained the way that each performance is judged (in so much detail I got a little confused).  There is a 'president' who is the chief judge, but the audience also participates in judging the performances.  There are certain 'dance' moves that the matador performs, and he must get very close to the bull.  The bulls are either younger or older, with the older ones being more difficult and getting a higher score.  Matadors can earn one ear, two ears, a tail, or a trip through the 'great doors' on the shoulders of the crowd, which is a great honor (and does not often occur).

The arena was built in the early 1900s and seats 23,000 people.  It's architecture is Moorish and the brick work is quite beautiful.

The royal box.  Apparently there is quite a fuss about which seats are the very best in the arena.  The Royal box is placed where the late afternoon sun will not shine on the viewers.  There is a special section up close where the 'old men' (experts) sit.  All of the audience have white handkerchiefs to wave for scoring the performances, which the president must take into account.

Several of the students went back to the arena the next day to get tickets to a show.  There is one every night in May.  They arrived as the show for that evening was getting underway and learned that everyone really dresses for the performance.  Men in suits, women in heals.  They are planning what to wear for the show in two days.

The tour also included passing by the infirmary and talking about the various injuries received by bull fighters.  Most of them have many scars on their legs where they have been gored by Bulls.  There are actually not that many fatalities according to the audio guide.  They talked about how the infirmary doctors had state of the art facilities and could stabilize the fighters who took injuries.  One was saved after the bull's horn went through his Adam's apple into his mouth. (Eeh!)

The tour ended with the museum where many of the outfits of the most famous Matadors were on display.  The tradition is to wear pink stockings under the pants.  The beadwork on the outfits is amazing.  In the museum, one of the docents asked if he had any questions, then launched into an explanation of how the Bulls are treated so well during their lives, living in open meadows with only grass, not penned and eating in feed lots.  They suffer for about 10 mins during the fight, but are killed cleanly.  He was clearly trying to persuade anyone who eats meat to think about how their meals are treated before being consumed, and not to judge the treatment of the Bulls in the ring.