Ever since I was a kid growing up in Ogden Utah back in the early 80's, I've been fascinated by the Spanish bullfight. I even searched out books on bullfighting at the Weber County library, where I found and read "Death in the Afternoon" by Ernest Hemingway. I'm probably the only kid in Utah to have ever read that book. Now here we are 40 years later and I still enjoy learning about and keeping up with the bullfights.

July 12, 2015

Bull decides not to take part in Pamplona


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/11/4-gored-running-of-the-bulls_n_7775590.html

One bull chosen to take part in Saturday's San Fermin festival took one look at thousands of thrill-seekers waiting to be chased down Pamplona's narrow streets and scampered back to the safety of his corral.

In a scene that confounded revelers and experts - and could have been scripted by Munro Leaf, who wrote "The Story of Ferdinand" - a reticent bull named Curioso I barely ran 20 yards (meters) before heading back.

Meanwhile, his five ornery stable-mates gored four revelers - including one 20-year-old American identified only by his initials A.G.O. - and injured five others with cuts and bruises as they hurtled through the northern Spanish city.

One bull charged into runners, goring one deeply in a thigh while cutting another runner's leg as it lifted its head.

Red Cross spokesman Jose Aldaba said four people received treatment after being gored while at least five others were recovering from bruises.

Kiko Betelu of the region of Navarra's medical service said three of the gorings were simple to treat but one of the injuries was deep and required surgery.

Normally six bulls run in the San Fermin festival, but on this occasion Curioso - a 1,180 pound (535 kilogram) beast belonging to the Jose Escolar breeding ranch - later had to be transported to the ring to join the other five.

Unlike the gentle, flower-sniffing Ferdinand, Curioso almost certainly won't get a chance to retire.
According to San Fermin experts commenting for state television TVE, the last time a bull turned back to the holding pen was in the 19th century.

The run covers 930-yards (850-meters) from a holding pen on the edge of town to the central bullring where the beasts - including Curioso - face matadors and almost certain death in afternoon bullfights.
The cobblestone streets of Pamplona were packed with thrill-seekers who had traveled to the northern city to take part in the annual San Fermin festivities. The weekend runs are traditionally the most popular and well-attended.

The nine-day fiesta was immortalized in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises."
Every morning of the festival at 8 a.m., the bulls race through the medieval streets accompanied by an equal number of large steers - each wearing a clanking cowbell - tasked with keeping the pack tight and galloping at an even pace.

This was the first time that breeder Escolar - whose heaviest animal was the 1,280 pound (580 kilogram) Costurero - had presented bulls for this festival that dates back to the late 16th century.

April 24, 2015

Plaza de Toros Bejar (Salamanca)


La plaza está construida en el paraje de "El castañar" a tan solo 2 Km. De la ciudad, está considerada como la plaza de toros más antigua de España. Del primer festejo que hay constancia se realizó en 1667 en una improvisada plaza cerrada con maderas.

 Después del éxito de las corridas allí celebradas el duque D. Juan Manuel II concedió el permiso para construir el coso taurino.

Según un libro de cuentas de la cofradía de la Virgen del "castañar" se demuestra que en septiembre de 1711 la actual plaza de toros estaba ya construida.

Después de su reforma del siglo XIX ha pasado a tener el ruedo redondo ya que en un primer momento tenía una estructura rectangular, hoy en día nos queda algunos restos de su primera forma en la parte este del graderío.

Tiene un aforo aproximado de 3500 personas y está considerada como una plaza de 3ª categoría y tiene un perímetro de 41 metros de diámetro.

 Fue restaurada en 1962 teniendo el festejo de reinauguración el día 1 de mayo de aquél año. El 9 de agosto de 1996 fue reinaugurada tras 27 años de inactividad con una corrida en cuyo cartel aparecían Emilio Muñoz, José Miguel Arroyo "Joselito" y José Ignacio Sánchez que lidiaron astados de Manuel San Román Valdés.

 En la restauración se mantuvieron los dos tendidos originales labrados directamente en la piedra, además de haber dotado a la plaza de un callejón.

Actualmente el edificio que alberga el palco presidencial, las taquillas, enfermería y palcos se encuentra el museo taurino instalado en 1998 en el cual podremos observar objetos relacionados con los toreros y las fiestas aquí celebradas.

http://www.i-bejar.com/

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La plaza por fuera





La plaza por dentro


April 16, 2015

Miquel Barcelo's posters for Barcelona's final bullfight create collector freenzy


(by Banafsheh Farhangmehr humanities.blogs.ie.edu 9-22-11)

The artist’s work sells for millions, so no surprise that his posters for Barcelona’s last bullfight are disappearing from the streets.

His paintings sell for up to £4m, but a limited edition copy of Spanish artist Miquel Barceló’s latest work can be had for free – if you know how to peel posters off walls without tearing them.

Barceló’s 1,500 posters appeared glued onto hoardings, pillars and walls in Barcelona this week after Spain‘s most commercially successful artist volunteered to design what is set to be the last-ever bullfight poster to decorate the city’s streets.

With bullfighting to be banned in Catalonia at the end of this year, Barceló asked to paint the poster for the Catalan capital’s last bullfight.

The fight, on Sunday, features Barceló’s friend José Tomás as one of the three matadors. It closes the season, and marks the death of bullfighting at the city’s Monumental bullring.

Barceló’s poster has provoked a frenzy of art madness, with fans of both the artist and bullfighting desperately trying to get their hands on what is already a collector’s item.

Queues have formed outside the offices of the fly-posting company charged with pasting them onto the city’s walls.

“In 30 years of fly-posting I have never seen anything like it,” company boss Carles Cunillera told Barcelona’s La Vanguardia newspaper. “We have had to tell people we can’t give them away.”

José Tomás is one of the most popular matadors of the moment, and is especially adored by those bullfight-loving artists and intellectuals who criticise the Catalan ban for censoring what they see as an art form.

Barceló, whose works sell for more than those of any other living Spanish artist, designed another poster for Tomás in 2007, when the bullfighter came out of a five-year retirement.

Tomás is a famous risk-taker and only recently came back after 15 months recovering from a goring suffered in a Mexican bullring.

Barceló’s most valuable paintings are bullfight scenes, with one fetching £4m at Christie’s in London this June. They continue a Spanish tradition that stretches back through Pablo Picasso to Francisco de Goya.

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http://humanities.blogs.ie.edu/2011/09/miquel-barcelos-posters-for-barcelonas-final-bullfight-create-collector-frenzy.html

April 5, 2015

Primer toro de 2015


First bull of the year, a bull from the Partido de Resina ranch.

March 29th.