Bullfighting on the Costa Blanca in Spain.

Bullfighting is without any doubt one of the best known, but at the same time most polemical Spanish popular customs.

The origins of the bullring ( Plaza ) are probably not the Roman amphitheaters but the Celt-Iberian temples where these ceremonies were held. One of them is conserved in the province of Soria, close to Numancia and it is supposed that there bulls were sacrificed to the Gods of the times. It were the Greek and Roman influences that converted it into a spectacle even though the religious cults to the bull goes back to the Iberians.

During the middle ages it was a diversion for the aristocracy to torear on horse's back. They used to call it suerte de cañas. During the 18th century this tradition was more or less abandoned and the poorer population invented the bullfight by foot. Francisco Romero was a key figure in setting up the rules for this new sport.

The Toro Bravo is the most important part of this “Fiesta”, The Toro Bravo is a species of bull of an race that is only conserved in Spain. The origin of this bull, the primitive urus, were spread out over wide parts of the world. Many civilizations referred to them, the bull-cults at the Greek island Crete is quite well-known. The Bible reports on sacrifices of bulls in honor to the divine justice. Also in the religious ceremonies of Iberian tribes living in Spain in prehistorically times bulls played an important part.

The bullfight is for its fans more an art than sport. The bullfight does not seem to lose popularity and its participants the Torero ( bullfighter ) are often celebrities. A Bullfight ( Corrida ) starts with the paseillo, with the ones involved in the bullfight entering the ring and presenting himself to the public. Two Alguacilillos, on horse's back, direct themselves to the presidency and symbolically ask for the keys to the "puerta de los toriles". The door to the bulls. When the door opens and the first bull enters the ring the spectacle starts. It consists of three parts, called tercios, separated by horn-signals. There are three toreros in each bullfight and each will have to fight two bulls. In the first tercio the bullfighter uses a quite large rag of purple and yellow color, the caplet, Then two picadors enters, on horse's back and armed with a sort of lance. The second part is la suerte de banderillas. Three banderilleros have to stick a pair of banderillas into the attacking bull's back. In the final "suerte suprema" the bullfighter uses the muleta, a small red rag. He has to show his faena, his power to dominate the bull, and to establish an artistically symbiosis between man and beast. The bullfight ends with the torero killing the bull by his sword.

The Alicante bullring was built in 1847 and later reformed in 1888 and has a capacity of 15.235 people. The location of the bull ring is on the Villafranqueza road. The bullring does not belong to any special type of architecture.

There are 6 entrances apart from the main entrance.

The bullring has three levels. The first one with a capacity of 10,695 people the second 3,256 an the third one 1,284.

During the improvements in 1888 the seats were changed. The Alicante bullring is quite comfortable.

The bullring in Benidorm was opened in 1962. Capacity of 9,971 people.

The bullring in Ondara was opened in 1901 and almost destroyed during the Spanish civil war. In 1957 the bullring in Ondara was rebuilt. Located by the Dr. Fleming and the General Bosch avenue. The bull ring is built in an arabesque style.

Most of the bullrings have a museum attached to the bullring were you can get information about the history of the ring.

More bullrings in the province of Alicante:

Plaza de Algorfa

Plaza de Benissa

Plaza de Bigastro

Plaza de Callosa de Segura

Plaza de Calpe

Plaza de Daya Nueva

Plaza de El Altet

Plaza de El Rebolledo

Plaza de Elche

Plaza de Elda

Plaza de Guardamar de Segura

Plaza de Hondon de las Nieves

Plaza de la Murada

Plaza de Monovar

Plaza de Nuza

Plaza de Orihuela

Plaza de Pilar de Horadada

Plaza de Pinoso

Plaza de San Isidro

Plaza de San Miguel de Salinas

Plaza de San Vicente de Raspeig

Plaza de Santa Pola

Plaza de Torre de la Horadada

Plaza de Torrevieja

Plaza de Villena

Famous bullfighters:

Eugenio de Mora

Vincente Barrera

Litri

El Juli

Jesulin de Ubrique

El Tato

Pepin Liria

Antonio Mondejar

Rafael Camino

Cesar Rincón

Jose Thomas

Fran Rivera Ordoñez

Gil Belmonte

Curro Romero

El Cordobes

Javier Conde

Espartaco

Uceda Leal

Victor Puerto

Enrique Ponce

El Cordobes

To buy tickets go to www.tauroentrada.com