We are a family of three adults going to Spain this Spring. We have planned to be in Madrid several days including Sunday, May 20th to be able to go to a bull fight at Las Ventas. Their website is not showing anything for that day though. Anybody knows if there are any other ways to buy the tickets? Since is going to be our only Sunday in Madrid and we'd like to sit in the shade we wanted to make sure we purchase them beforehand. Thanks in advance for any help.

Hello, miamijp, and welcome to our ALL SPAIN Message Board!!

I've just looked at the Madrid Las Ventas website and they do not yet have the 2012 schedule posted until March 2012.

Your date of May 20th falls within the month-long, nearly-daily "Fería de San Isidro" bullfight festival, running (generally speaking) from the 15th of May to the 15th of June. Getting tickets during his festival can be difficult, but not impossible. Just prepare yourself to pay-the-price if you want to see a bullfight during these dates.

To get tickets, your best-bet is to show-up a couple days in advance to the day you'd like to see the bullfight, go to the ticket counter, and ask. If they're sold-out, you could likely buy them from a "scalper" outside the ring before the bullfight, but don't expect the best seats or even seats in the shade. Sorry! Buying them from an agency will likely charge you double the face-value, possibly 100-200 Euros each!!

On the up-side, your May visit to Madrid should yield VERY good weather - apart from the sporadic rain (which isn't likely to happen, but you never know).

Saludos, MadridMan

As MM knows I have been to many bullfights ( quite a few with him too ) .. And I really thing that the tickets sold 'in the shade ' ( Sombra ) are a rip off . Yes you don't get the sun beating down , but you can always use a hat and sun cream protection . One reason these tickets are SO expensive is that , technically , the torero will move the bull into the shade to fight it so that there is no glare in the torero's eyes . In the majority of times i've been , the fight is rarely in the shaded areas and , infact , many seats are left empty in the 'sombra' areas except those taken by misinformed tourists . The tourists are not at fault , but their advisors are probably trying to get a lot more commission on the high price seats .
I always met in the middle and bought 'sol y sombra ' tickets .. Usually about 2 to 4 rows from the front . Magnificent seats ( as MM can testify to ) , with wonderful opportunities to take great photos . 'my area ' was tentido bajo 8 .. where the toreros would prepare for the fight just a matter of metres away .
I have thousands of great photos and video footage of the fights .
Average ticket for a full bullfight ( big name toreros ) was about €47 . For the novilleros ( trainee toreros but still magnificent ) , you would pay about €25 .
As MM mentioned , May 20th will be San Isidro , the most importatnt bullfighting period in Madrid . Many people have 'abonos' ( season tickets ) , and on any morning down by the bullring there will be queues of guys at the ticket office buying blocks of 50-100 tickets . So it will be more difficult .
Good luck ,It's an amazing experience if you get to see it . Not for everyone , but you'll make your decision .

correct the schedule wont be up until spring, and Ventas is wonderful. I used to be all over there, even help out there as my family had cousins working there. It is a great experience in my opinion,you wont go wrong in any seat,its an experience you will cherish for life, as I have.
Cheers

Muchas gracias MadridMan, Steve and pedmar for your posts and info. I will keep looking for the Las Ventas site to post the information and if I have a chance I will buy the tickets beforehand, if not I will go there when we get to Madrid on 16 May. We are pretty much hellbent on the bullfight this time having been to Spain 3 times before and always missed them by a couple of days and one good storm one time. I'll keep you guys posted. Cheers.

miamijp, if you're not hellbent on seeing a bullfight in Madrid, you can certainly see decent others in nearby cities like Toledo. The bullring would be smaller, of course, and the bullfighters wouldn't be of the same caliber, but you wouldn't have the long lines, you might see better, and the tickets would be much cheaper, too.

Saludos, MadridMan

there should be bullfights for every night you are in Madrid, during San Isidro the tickets for the corridas for the top figuras are always sold out, and the only way to get them is through the scalpers, but corridas for anyone else you should be able to get tickets. If you can read Spanish and keep an eye on the Las Ventas website and eventually in the notices it will have something about abonos(season tickets) it starts about the 11th of April for people to renew their abonos, and basically finishes up, with tickets open to everyone from about the 28th of April( these where the dates for 2011) On the Las Ventas website if you clip on the tab precios y plano, it gives you the price for the tickets ranging from a few euros to sit up in the heights in Sol to 120e barrera sombra. Also on the website, you will see down the left hand side you will see Entradas en Taquillatoros.com , once the tickets go on sale to the general public you will be able to buy theme here, and you can pick them up at the plaza, or even in town at FNAC as soon as you get to Madrid.
If you want to see a bullfight in one of the small towns around Madrid, there is actually more chance of seeing the top guys, as they fight in the small towns too and it is easier to get tickets elsewhere than it is for San Isidro in Madrid, a corrida at a small town in fiesta is a different beast from San isdro but still enjoyable.

We are pretty much typical Americans. I’m a huge football fan, so if you ask me about any team or quarterback in the NFL I can tell you all about them. But when it comes to bullfighting we probably will be calling the matadors “the one in the red cape” or “the one in the blue cape” and for sure will be very impressed by anything they do short of getting thenselves hurt. We wanted to go to Madrid because we assumed it would be the best, but I will also look in the other cities we are visiting to see if we have alternatives. After Madrid we are going to Sevilla, Granada, Valencia, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Bilbao and Santiago the Compostela. I am also conveniently fluent in Spanish so at least I have that advantage when it comes to reading the Ring’s posts. Thanks again to everybody for the warm welcome and all the help.

hahaha at least I know the Giants won !!! and unfortunately the toreros dont have numbers in their back either hehehe
all those are nice cities and bullfights except unfortunately Barcelona.
have a great trip in Spain,everything under the sun; many here speaks Spanish too, they are just too shy ::)

Madrid's bullring is the biggest i n Spain ... About 22,000 person capacity ( always full during the May festivities ) . Bilbao's bullring is very different as the ring itself has a special surface to deal with the amount of rain the País Vasco gets . The bullring there is just about a 15 minute walk over the river from the cathedral in a semi-residential area . When you're in Bilbao you should walk through the little old streets in the Casco Viejo ... If you're lucky you may walk down a street and hear the sound of what seems a bit like tennis .. I was lucky and was walking down a narrow lane just a little North of the Casco Viejo .. Lots of old guys in their black berets ( Boinas ) and young guys were crammed into the doorway of an old sports centre where you can go in for free and watch the Basque game of Pelota Vasca .. In which they use a large wicker 'basket' attached to their hand or , as I saw , just their hands to slam balls at high speed against a back wall .. a bit like squash . It's very fast and dangerous .
Also do not miss a ride across the river to or from Getxo on the Puente Colgante .. a cable car that hangs down from a huge bridge structure a few metres above the river .Getxo is a very wealthy area of Bilbao that has seen it's fair share of bombings by the terrorist group ETA . My Basque friend took me there for the ride and for the great restaurants/bars .
And as a footnote to your message .. I know that MM is a HUGE fan of football .. Many a time I met him for lunch after he'd been up all night watching a game .

Hi Steve, thanks for the post. We just booked 5 days in the Parador de Hondarribia. From there we plan to do day trips to Bilbao, San Sebastian and Santander before moving on to the west and Santiago de Compostela.
I must tell you that you brought back big memories of childhood with the Jai-Alai mention. My father used to take me to the Miami Jai-alai when I was a child and it always fascinated me as a sport, I am very much looking forward to seeing a game or two while in Bilbao.
Still waiting for the Ventas site to start selling the tickets for the Madrid corridas.
As for football... any mention of it at this time is so painful while we real fans go through withdrawls until September, lol.