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Bullring

From Quire, the open reference·Arena where bullfighting is performed·9 min read
Málaga's bullring lies in the heart of the city.
Málaga's bullring lies in the heart of the city. Image: source and license
Façade of the oldest bullring in Spain, La Maestranza in Seville.
Façade of the oldest bullring in Spain, La Maestranza in Seville. Image: source and license
The Plaza México, which is situated in Mexico City, is the world's largest bullring.
The Plaza México, which is situated in Mexico City, is the world's largest bullring. Image: source and license
The facade of the Arena of Nîmes in Nîmes, a converted Roman amphitheatre
The facade of the Arena of Nîmes in Nîmes, a converted Roman amphitheatre Image: source and license
The Plaza de Toros de Ronda
The Plaza de Toros de Ronda Image: source and license
The Plaza de Toros de Chinchón.
The Plaza de Toros de Chinchón. Image: source and license

A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with the Iberian Peninsula, but they can also be found through Iberian America and in a few Spanish and Portuguese ex-colonies in Africa. Bullrings are often historic and culturally significant centres that bear many structural similarities to the Roman amphitheatre.

Common structure#edit

The classic bullring is an enclosed, roughly circular amphitheatre with tiered rows of stands that surround an open central space. The open space forms the arena or ruedo, a field of densely packed crushed rock (albero) that is the stage for the bullfight. Also on the ground level, the central arena is surrounded by a staging area where the bullfighters prepare and take refuge, called the callejón (alley). The callejón is separated from the arena by a wall or other structure, usually made of wood and roughly 140 cm high. The partition wall has doors for the entrance and exit of the bull (puerta de los toriles) and human participants (puerta de cuadrilla), although the form, number, and placement of these doors will vary from one bullring to another. In regular places, the wall is pushed outwards leaving splits (burladero, from burlar: to evade, to dodge) that allow the bullfighters to go in the arena and to take refuge but are too narrow for the bull. Nevertheless, on rare occasions the bull jumps the wall causing havoc in the corridor. The walls also have a type of stirrup or foothold that aids in crossing over to the central arena, and sometimes stirrups on the arena side as well; these are used mostly by event staff if they need to intervene quickly in the case of an emergency. The arena is surrounded by climbing rows of seats. The seats are priced differently according to the position of the sun during the show, normally in the afternoon. The hot sol, "sun", is cheaper than the fresher sombra, "shade".

Architectural origins#edit

Bullrings evolved as specialized sporting arenas hand-in-hand with the sport that demanded them. Many of the ancient Roman amphitheatres had characteristics that can be seen in the bullrings of today (in fact the ring in Nîmes, France, is a Roman artifact,[1] though it is more elliptical than the usual plaza), and the origin of bullfighting is very closely related to certain Roman traditions; in the formative years of the sport on the Iberian Peninsula, those Roman enclosures were not commonly utilised for bullfighting events. Back when bullfighting festivals were conducted principally on horseback, the spectacle was a more public affair that took place in the city's open plaza areaIt was only later, when bullfights were conducted principally by men on foot, that the public needed a structure to house them appropriately. Initially, temporary wooden fences were erected to prevent the bulls from escaping. When bullfights became much more popular in 18th century, not only did the crowd need special seating to view the spectacle, they also needed a structure to contain the general disorder that reigned at festivals during the heyday of such legendary figures as Costillares, Pedro Romero, and Pepe-Hillo.

For centuries, early cosos (from Latin cursum, meaning course, track) were rectangular. The earliest examples are found in the Sierra de Huelva, which was the destination of transhumance routes from León, who brought some of their culture with them, including the feast of San Mamés, mostly associated with northern Spain. It was precisely in the hamlet of San Mamés, between Aroche and Rosal de la Frontera, where the oldest documented coso was built in 1599.[2] Very little of the structure of this rectangular arena remains, which has been extensively documented by local historian Antonio Rodríguez Guillén "Chamizo".[3] Another old coso was built in Almonaster la Real in 1608, and the nearby plaza from Campofrío, completed in 1718, is among the oldest with a circular shape.[4] The oldest plaza still in use, Las Virtudes in Santa Cruz de Mudela, Ciudad Real, dates from 1641 and has a square shape. The plaza from Béjar (1711) was originally rectangular and later made circular. Likewise, when the La Maestranza bullring in Seville was authorized for construction in 1730 specifically to house bullfights, the original plans called for a rectangular arena for the first three years, only later to be changed to a circular form that avoided the cornering of the action and put all viewers at the same approximate distance, the same reason for the elliptical form of amphitheatres. Another circular plaza was begun in Ronda in 1754, and it featured its first bullfights in 1782.

In the late 19th century, the Neo-Mudéjar style became in vogue for plazas, involving decoration in visible brickwork. Since the 1990s, new construction technology allows some rings to be covered permanently or temporarily.

Alternative uses#edit

A Pass in the Bullring, in 1870, Seville, by painter José Jiménez Aranda.
A Pass in the Bullring, in 1870, Seville, by painter José Jiménez Aranda. Image: source and license

The primary purpose of the ring is bullfighting, but it is usually limited to some festival weeks in the year. In other times, it may be used as a concert venue as in the Rock en el ruedo tour of Miguel Ríos or the live record Diamonds & Rust in the Bullring, featuring a Joan Baez concert in the Bilbao plaza.

Before the diffusion of modern sports premises, bullrings were used in the Basque Country for traditional sports similar to challenges of resistance running. The public made bets on the number of laps the runner could make. No bulls were involved.

After the battle of Badajoz (1936) of the Spanish Civil War, the Badajoz ring was used as a confinement camp for supporters of the republic and many thousands were executed there by the Nationalist forces who had just occupied the town.

Most indoor bullrings, especially in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, in addition to being used for concerts, have also been used for indoor sports such as basketball, ice hockey, boxing and lucha libre.

Bullrings of the world#edit

The most famous bullrings in the world are Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Madrid (Spain), widely regarded as the most prestigious one, La Maestranza in Seville (Spain), Campo Pequeno in Lisbon (Portugal) and Plaza de Toros México in Mexico City.[citation needed]

Europe#edit

Spain#edit

Major venues in Spain#edit
Local venues in Spain#edit

Portugal#edit

Campo Pequeno Bullring
Campo Pequeno Bullring Image: source and license

France#edit

Villages round the Camargue, such as Rodilhan in the Gard, who also practise 'mise à mort' - killing the bull.

Africa#edit

Algeria#edit

Angola#edit

Morocco#edit

Mozambique#edit

Americas#edit

Mexico#edit

Argentina#edit

Colombia#edit

Santamaría Bullring
Santamaría Bullring Image: source and license

Ecuador#edit

Peru#edit

The colonial Plaza de toros de Acho in Lima, Peru, opened on 30 January 1766.
The colonial Plaza de toros de Acho in Lima, Peru, opened on 30 January 1766. Image: source and license
  • Plaza de toros de Acho, Lima. 2nd oldest. 30 January 1766.
  • Plaza de Toros Sol y Sombra, Lima
  • Plaza de Toros de la Provincia de Cutervo, Cajamarca
  • Plaza de Toros "El Vizcaíno", Cajamarca
  • Plaza de Toros de Trujillo "El Coliseo", Trujillo
  • Plaza de Toros de El Coliseo, Huancayo
  • Plaza de Toros de Sicaya, Huancayo
  • Plaza de Toros de la Unión, Huánuco
  • Plaza de Toros de Guadalupe, Ica
  • Plaza de Toros de Puquío, Ayacucho.

Uruguay#edit

Venezuela#edit

United States#edit

  • Santa Maria Bullring, San Isidro, Texas

Bullrings by capacity#edit

#BullringLocationCapacityImage
1Plaza de Toros MéxicoMexico City, Mexico41,262
2Plaza de Toros Monumental de ValenciaValencia, Venezuela24,708
3Plaza de Toros de Las VentasMadrid, Spain23,798
4Plaza Monumental de TijuanaTijuana, Mexico21,621
5Plaza de Toros de PamplonaPamplona, Spain19,720
6Plaza Nuevo ProgresoGuadalajara, Mexico16,561
7Plaza de Toros Monumental de AguascalientesAguascalientes, Mexico16,000
8Plaza Monumental Román Eduardo SandiaMérida, Venezuela16,000
9Plaza de Toros Monumental de MaracaiboMaracaibo, Venezuela15,000
10Plaza de Toros de La MercedHuelva, Spain15,000
11Plaza de Toros de MurciaMurcia, Spain15,000
12Plaza Monumental de Toros de Pueblo NuevoSan Cristóbal, Venezuela15,000
13Plaza de Toros de Vista AlegreBilbao, Spain14,781
14Plaza de Toros CañaveralejoCali, Colombia14,368
15Plaza de Toros de GranadaGranada, Spain14,000
16Plaza de Toros de los CalifasCórdoba, Spain14,000
17Plaza de Toros de AchoLima, Peru13,700
18Praça de Touros Celestino GraçaSantarém, Portugal13,179
19Plaza de Toros de ValenciaValencia, Spain12,000
20Plaza de Toros de AlbaceteAlbacete, Spain12,000
21Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de SevillaSeville, Spain12,000
22Plaza de Toros de La RiberaLogroño, Spain11,046
23Plaza de Toros CalafiaMexicali, Mexico11,000
24Plaza de Toros de ValladolidValladolid, Spain11,000
25Monumental Las PalomasAlgeciras, Spain11,000
26Plaza de Toros La GlorietaSalamanca, Spain10,858
27Plaza de Toros de JaénJaén, Spain10,500
28Plaza de Toros de ZaragozaZaragoza, Spain10,072
29Plaza de Toros de SantanderSantander, Spain10,000
30Plaza de Toros de PalenciaPalencia, Spain10,000
31Plaza de toros Maestranza César GirónMaracay, Venezuela7,000
32Plaza de Toros de MuroMuro, Spain4,800

See also#edit

References#edit

  1. ^ "arenes-nimes.com". Nimes la Romaine.
  2. ^ "Hallan los restos del coso taurino más antiguo de España". El Mundo. Europa Press. 3 April 2003. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  3. ^ Rodríguez Guillén "Chamizo", Antonio (2013). "La plaza de toros más antigua del mundo, entre Rosal de la Frontera y Aroche". Infonubex (in Spanish). Centro de Investigación: Memoria e Historia de la Sierra. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Protegida plaza toros de Campofrío (Huelva), de las más antiguas de España". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). EFE. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
Categories BullringsSports venues by type

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