Bullfighting is certainly one of the best-known-although at the same time most controversial-Spanish popular customs. This Fiesta could not exist without the toro bravo, a species of bull of an ancient race that is only conserved in Spain. Formerly this bull's forebears, the primitive urus, were spread out over wide areas of the world. Many civilizations revered them, the bull cults on the Greek island of Crete are very well known. The Bible tells of sacrifices of bulls in honour of divine justice.

Bulls also played an important role in the religious ceremonies of the Iberian tribes living in Spain in prehistoric times. The origins of the plaza de toros (bullring) are probably not the Roman amphitheatres but rather the Celtic-Iberian temples where those ceremonies were held. Near Numancia in the province of Soria one of them has survived, and it is supposed that bulls were sacrificed to the gods there.

What a Corrida is about

If you are not familiar with corridas de toros (bullfights), here is what happens in order, so that you can decide by yourself whether you want to see one when you are in Spain. A corrida starts with the paseillo, when everybody involved in the bullfight enters the ring and presents themselves to the president and public.

Two alguacilillos on horseback look up to the president's box and symbolically ask for the keys to the puerta de los toriles. Behind that door the bulls are waiting. When the door opens and the first bull enters the spectacle starts for real. It consists of three parts, called tercios ("thirds"), the separation of which is signalled with a bugle call. There are three toreros-bullfighters (the better-known word "toreador" is actually never used in modern Spanish)-in each corrida, each being allotted two bulls. In the first tercio the bullfighter uses the capote, a rather large cape that is a pinkish-mauve colour on one side and yellow on the other.

Now the two picadors enter on horseback, armed with a sort of lance. The second tercio is la suerte de banderillas. Three banderilleros must stick a pair of banderillas into the charging bull's back. In the final suerte suprema the bullfighter uses the muleta, a small red cloth draped from a stick. He has to show his mastery to dominate the bull, and to establish an artistic symbiosis between man and beast. The corrida ends with the torero using his sword to kill the bull.