Hi
I was wondering whether anyone has any idea where i could get tickets to watch a bullfight. I know the chances of me actually finding available seats are like equivalent to getting a last minute flight home on Thanksgiving but i really want to watch this event while in madrid.

[ 05-05-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

You don't say where or when you are in Spain but I am in Madrid and Andalucia every June and at least in Madrid, tickets can always be purchased the day of the bullfight. You should have no problem unless you are in a town or city that is having a special festival or celebration.

Last year when my students and I went to the bullfight in Madrid we also found ourselves in the middle of a huge anti-bullfight protest! What an experience for my poor, innocent, wet-behind-the-ears, North Dakota teenagers! As a disclaimer, I always obligate my students to attend the bullfight simply to educate them and encourage them to offer an 'informed' opinion of the bullfight. It matters little to me if they come away loving them or hating them, rather I am thrilled that, for the good or the bad, they have had the experience!

Well, during San Isidro festival is not so easy to get tickets. They only way to buy the tickets in advance is through Localidades Galicia (see link at the Madridman's links section) or you can also buy a package tour including both a city tour and a bullfight (Pullmantur, Trapsatur and Julia Tours offer this package).

Speaking of San Isidro, how long does the festival last? I will be in Madrid May 20-23, will it still be going on then?

I'd like to catch a bullfight while I'm there too. Would there be any difference seeing a bullfight in Madrid or Sevilla? Or maybe I should catch one in both places? Thanks

Well, San Isidro festival is the greatest in the world so I guess it's the best time to go and see a bullfight. You can see all the information about the festival at las-ventas.com .

I was just looking at the link to the festival that is going on in Madrid. Is it possible to buy tickets for the bull fights during the festival the same day, or should I try to purchase my tickets in advance. I am going to be in Madrid May 16-25.
Thanks,
Sandy

Perfecta:
What other bizarre rituals do you obligate your H.S. students to attend? Cock fights organized by Mexican migrant farm workers there in North Dakota?

The bullfight protesters were trying to tell you something - that the fiesta brava, as it is called is really a ritual killing of the bull. Next time, you can save the airfare and just take them to the Stockyards down in South Omaha to watch the steers being slaughtered. Or maybe you can find a place nearby where pit bull terriers fight to the death.

Some of your 'poor, innocent, wet-behind-the-ears North Dakota teenagers' have more delicate sensibilities than others. I think it is cruel (bordering on just plain stupid)for a responsible adult H.S. Teacher to obligate his/her students to attend such an event.

The first bullfight I attended many years ago, I saw one of the peones gored in the groin and tossed about like a rag doll. Later, I read that he had died. From then on, I would spend my Sunday afternoons at Madrid's Hipodromo (watching the horse races).

[ 05-06-2001: Message edited by: Eddie ]

Hi Eddie el al!

Actually,Eddie, you demonstrate my point when you say you attended a bullfight years ago, found it horrific and choose to spend your time elsewhere. That is exactly what I hope my students do.

I rarely stay more than an hour at the bullfight, and many students too have seen enough. Some, though, have stayed until the end and have appreciated many of the contrasts demonstrated: man v beast, life v death, intelligence v strength....all the way to sun v shade!

Frankly in North Dakota, the raising, the selling and the slaughter of animals is part of our economic base. Most students are not offended by the death of the bull. The apparent 'entertainment' of this is an 'eye-opener'for them. Usually I feel a stronger reaction, by my students, to an injured horse. I am not opposed to discuss both sides of the issue with them.

As to cock fighting and other rituals, I imagine I would draw the line with local law. Illegal activities would not become requiste.

Most of my students leave Spain not liking 'allos'either but I am always glad they have tried them and have something on which to base that opinion.

I was glad they were able to see, after the bullfight,the protest and realize that all Spaniards don't like, attend or think of them as 'cultural'. Actually, they only needed to look around the plaza to realize that at best it was a 'generational' pasttime. I don't think (disregarding tourists) that any native in attendance was under 50 years old.

I maybe should have mentioned that my students are 18 year old high school seniors or graduates, perhaps my previous description
mislead you.

Ignorance is NEVER a justification. Curiosity in all aspects of life will be what identifies an individual as a life long learner and that is the most I can hope for my students.

The world would be an abismal place if we were all the same, be that in our thoughts, our language, and our activities. As a teacher of a foreign language and culture, it is that belief which gives me a reason to be.

While studying a semester in Seville, Spain in 1976, I went to a bullfight almost every Sunday afternoon. I began by purchasing a copy of Ernest Hemingway's DEATH IN THE AFTERNOON. There were probably a dozen chapters. Before going to the bullfight, I read one chapter. I proceeded reading one chapter per Sunday until the book was done, and then continued attending. The first bullfight was shocking. The others were more of a show and lots of fun. "Ole" roars the crowds as the band plays on. (Perfecta, in very recent years I have enjoyed seeing the little kids, ages 7 or 8, saying "ole". It was an Easter Sunday and the families were at the bullfight.)

From a Sociological perspective it seems that the blood and gore are played out every Sunday afternoon in Spain as performance art. We live in a country where the fakeness of blood and gore plays on TV and at the cinema and then is reenacted in our streets. In Spain, the blood and gore are real. You see it and you smell it.

The question is: How does the real thing (blood and gore at the bullfight) vs. the fake thing (the blood and gore on TV and in movies) affect the audience that watches?

Hemingway's DANGEROUS SUMMER is another good read about bullfights, as is Richard Wright's PAGAN SPAIN.

Once while flying to Spain, I sat on the flight with two gentlemen from the USA. They were headed to Madrid for a week of drinking and bullfight watching. The drinking had already started on the flight, and I was the titled "the rose between two thorns" and was invited to join in. August 13, 1977 - was it any of you guys on this message board? They were two men who had a plan!

I, too, have taken school kids to bullfights. My stories and experiences vary dramatically regarding their responses. Rarely are they knowledgeable or well read enough to know what it is they are witnessing. I try, the guide tries, but there is so much to the story.

Regarding the purchase of tickets, I have always purchased them at the bullring on the day of the celebration. I always buy "SOL" and have never been unable to get a ticket.
http://www.desaleshs.org

[ 05-06-2001: Message edited by: Sofia ]

In a bullfight the bull is not entirely a victim. Consider how his life might have gone had he not been born and bred to be a fighting bull.

Instead of living a liesurely, privileged and workfree life, he may have been turned into an ox, hitched to a wagon and subjected to endless labor and possible abuse through all his years.

Now, he faces a quick death doing what his birth, heritage and instincts have created him to do. It's not a bad scenario. I'd be tempted to consider a deal like that myself.

My regrets are for the the horses, not the bull.
Cantabene

[ 05-07-2001: Message edited by: cantabene ]