The Bullfight
In celebration of Our Lady of the Forsaken, a patron saint of Valencia, bullfights were held at the Plaza de Toros this weekend. Since they don’t occur too often (not every weekend, like some might think, including myself), I thought I’d take the opportunity to see one.
Before going I had some apprehension about this part of Spanish “culture.” I turns out the apprehension was valid. I can safely say that was my first and last bullfight.
The “sport” of bullfighting is a sport of stabbing a bull, usually about ten times, with several kinds of sharp impaling utensils over a period of fifteen to twenty minutes, slowly bleeding the animal until it can “fight” no longer. Its spectators consisted of old cigar-smoking men and tourists from all over. The stands were made of concrete and brick, surely putting many rear-ends to sleep.
I took over 800 photos spanning the demise of five bulls; I wanted to document as much as I could. The gore was easily captured in many a shot. If you can stomach it, view some photos from the day by watching a slideshow of 150 photos or by clicking the link after the slideshow to see photos presented individually. Warning: Some of the photos are graphic and bloody.
Death in the Afternoon
The poor horses, too.
