April 13, 2010 -- Sevilla and the Bull Fight

The trip to Sevilla was exceptional from a scenic perspective. From Malaga we turned north on the Autovia, travelling up a steep river valley until we crested in an area of rolling hills and good farmland, the southern uplands of the broad Rio Guadalquiver valley that dominates Andalusia. The valley is roughly sixty kilometres wide and 300 kilometres long, originating in the interior mountains and flowing westward into the Atlantic near Cadiz. Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla, and most other large Andalusian cities lie along it. This broad valley is the agricultural heartland of Andalusia and we descended down its length towards Sevilla for two hours through olive groves and orange orchards.

We had a busy first day in Sevilla. We took a city tour, had dinner and then went to the corrida (bull fight), the Plaza de Torros de la Maestranza being only a block or two from our hotel.

The corrida was full of pomp, ritualism and symbol- ism, from the parading of participants, to the goading of the toro bravo by the matador's peones, the confrontation between the mounted piscadores who drive their spears into the shoulder muscles of the bulls, the peones and banderilleros who provoke the bulls, the stage where the resplendent matador challenges the bull with his red muleta, to the final ritualistic killing of the animal.

In suc- cession, six bulls were killed by three mata- dors. During this evening one of the matadors didn't have such a good night. Early on he was gored in the leg by one bull but later he returned to the ring and was gored and tossed in the air by another bull. From this he was extricated by his peones who carried him out of the bull ring to the waiting ambulance.


The entire evening was a bloody and gory experi- ence but a cultural spectacle to witness -- once.