Los Toros – The Bullfight in Valencia, Spain at Las Fallas

Yep, like I was saying before, obstacles seem to just disappear.  A path opens up.  The bullfight on Sunday afternoon, March 15 included a torero (bullfighter) named Jose Tomas.  He is one of those that comes around once in a few decades – a great bullfighter, a showman, strong, valiente, courageous.  Good looking guy, young with dark, curly hair, etc. 

 

I heard someone say ‘he looks death in the eye.’  He’s a crowd-pleaser so naturally a bullring that fits some 15,000 people will sell-out quickly to see that.  Heading to the bullring, though, I was optimistic that someone would be scalping.  I think the last time I scalped at a bullfight, I was up in Barcelona and the guy smelled like smoke and alcohol and was missing a few teeth.  That guy and others like him were nowhere to be found.  You could just feel a different vibe there.  Everyone who was surrounding the bullring (and it was elbow to elbow) had tickets and those that didn’t have tickets just wanted to stand around to see the bullfighters enter.

 

I walked away from the sold-out box office windows up and down the street.  Nada.  I then went back to the box office area which is also where the bullfighters enter.  Out of nowhere, I heard ‘tengo entradas.’  I turned and looked, it was an older guy, but a normal guy, he had all his teeth.  I bought a ticket in the 8^throw sombra (in the shade) for 75 euros.  The impossible happened again!  An ostacle was overcome.  I seriously don’t think any other tickets exchanged hands that afternoon.

 

Turns out the man selling the ticket (Julio) and his group of other cigar-smoking buddies have season tickets.  One of them couldn’t make it so Julio sold his ticket.  We got friendly and the next thing you know Julio pulls out a bottle of Gin and little bottles of tonic (see pic below).  There we are drinking G&Ts.  An hour later, empanadas are being passed around and then some time later ensaimada – a sweet bread sprinkled with thick sugar and some nuts.

 

The bullfight.  You may see the bullfighter as an artist dancing with the bull or you may see it as the torture and death of 6 bulls in the afternoon, either way, it’s an experience.  When done properly, you’re able to get beyond the end result.  When done poorly, on the other hand, it’s the bad news bears entangled in a bloody painful mess.  Fortunately, 4 of the 6 corridas (bullfights) were the best I’ve ever seen!  Jose Tomas and Sebastian Castella gave the crowd an incredible and surely unforgettable performance.  They got close to the bulls, leaning into them and at different points even touching their horns.  They showed complete mastery and control of the bulls in addition to a bravery that can only come from mad skills and the void of the fear nerve.

 

I’ve got to talk about the crowd – a grouping of people who are actively engaged with what’s going on down on the sand.  When you’re not hearing sunflower seeds being cracked between their teeth, you may hear critical gritos (shouts) that you might’ve heard at the old Yankee Stadium.  If the president of the bullring isn’t getting on with the different stages of the bullfight or if the bull isn’t a strong one (or for countless other reasons), you’ll hear whistling.  If that doesn’t do it, they step it up by making more noise, adding onto that some higher-pitched whistling and the waving of white handkerchiefs.  It feels like mob rule.

 

Bullfighting dates back many centuries and you could easily argue that people who choose to attend it are getting in touch with the raw business of life and death.  It’s not quite the thumbs up/thumbs down we saw in the movie Gladiator, but it has a modern day closeness.  At the end of the fight, if the torero does extremely well, they cut off one of the bull’s ears.  The crowd may say ‘ot-ra, ot-ra’ (another) to get the president of the bullring to have the second ear pulled.   Yesterday, at the end of one fight, the crowd wasn’t pleased that a second ear wasn’t given and so directed some mass anger in the form or noise and whistles at the president.  I think I heard burro chants – calling him a jackass.  Don’t quote me on that one.  It didn’t sound pretty though.

 

Before I sign off for the night, some other wild things at the bullfight.  The Spanish sometimes drink wine out of a bota bag – a leather wine pouch.  You hold the bag on a diagonal at arm’s length and squeeze the wine to form a purple stream into your mouth.  It’s a convenient way to store and drink wine.  It’s also very social.  Bota bags gets tossed over 5 or 6 people’s heads to someone wanting it.  After the fight, the bullfighter takes a walk around the outer perimeter of the ring.  Out of appreciation, items are thrown at him or his feet – the bota bag, flowers, shawls, etc.  Jose Tomas (the young superstar) stopped to drink from the bota (see pic below).  Oh, if they get an ear, they parade that around too.  Jose actually earned one and tossed it up into the crowd.  (What do you do with that ear if you should be so lucky as to catch it??)

 

If you’re interested in bullfighting, I’d like to recommend Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway.  It’s a great read – totally verbose Hemingway style but with a serious education for bullfighting.  He spent a lot of time in Spain.  It’s been awhile since I read it so I’m now inspired to look back at my notes.  I distinctly remember Chapter 7 being an incredible read on what to look for and appreciate in the bullfight.

 

Next up for tomorrow’s blog, some talk about fireworks explosions.  For now, I’ll leave you with the fact that for about 8 minutes at 2pm every day during Las Fallas, they explode 130 kilos or about 285 lbs of gunpowder.  Keep in mind that gunpowder isn’t really a heavy substance.  My goal tomorrow is to get a sense for what kind of explosive damage that amount of gunpowder can cause.