death in this afternoon

(caution sign. this is an intense and descriptive depiction of what goes down during

a bullfight-so i would skip this one if you are uneasy or simply uninterested, i won't take offense)

because it was feria, the opening of bullfighting season and i was in Sevilla, where the substance

of the corrida was developed, my desire to witness a spanish bullfight had reached max capacity.

saturday morning in the centre, i found a taquilla and had a word with the hombre aqui.

he convinced me that evening there were tickets for prime viewing and i secured my seat.

on my way to La Maestranza, Sevillanos were gearing up for the rounds with with alcohol in

all the little bars in El Arenal. i picked up a striped seat cushion and made my way in.

of course, chaos spanish style. yo penso que they love acting a bit mad here.

the plaza de torreos was beautiful and the scene was unreal-ladies in their flamenco,

many and most in straw hats and nearly everyone with swatting fans.

at 18:30, we are introduced to the cast. tres matadors, their cuadrillas (helpers),

the picadores (on horseback) and banderillos parade in.

after a bit of paparazzi and fanfare, the saffron ring is cleared and things get under way.

the first bull, fiercely runs into the ring and is agitated by the banderillos with pink capes.

toro is getting pissed off and its obvious because he is chasing after the banderillos

and slamming his horns against the wooden barricades they hide behind.

a horn sounds and next up are the picadores and things get intense.

dos hombres on horses have long spear like sticks, known as picadores and their goal

is to stab the bull in the back of the neck to weaken him.

the banderillos coax the bull over and the picador takes his stab. the bull is bleeding

from the next and now trying to slam the horse into the wall. its hardcore and at one point

one of the horses has been knocked down and the picadore pulled out of the ring.

after a bit of this, another horn.

and its the banderillos go. each of three dudes have dos banderillas,

(little poles with barbed ends and colourful streamers)

they do a bit of preening, tip toeing and dancing around and then swiftly waltz up to

the toro and festoon him in the neck with these daggers. i imagine this must be a truly

courageous act, running up to an angry bull in your fantastic traje de luces,

(i quite fancied the naranja one!) and not much else.

another horn and its the real deal.

the matador with his pink cape comes into the ring. its just him and the toro and

things get quite mesmerizing.

the dance between the bull and matador is in slow motion and almost romantic.

each matador has a different approach-one quietly coaxes the toro to venga (come)

and lets the pink fabric fall over the bulls back, another lets the spanish machissmo

fly and juts his pelvis in the toros face and plum around for the spanish audience, who

are totally loving it. this matador did have the moves though, he literally jumped up in

the air and did this wild spin move.

so the matador has his flirt with the bull and then when he decides enough is enough,

he gets the sword. he has got to get the bulls head down and be directly in front of him

to make a smooth kill. matador in verde does just this, takes his cut and the bull staggers

and falls. i think he was deemed the winner, after his first round, the crowd was waving

little white kerchiefs in a sign of approval. (noone else got this, Sevillanos are notorious

for being hard to please in the corrida)

the bull is now tied to a band of horses and pulled out of the ring.

the whole scene happens five more times.

i found it to be fascinating and like nothing i have ever seen.

the spanish love it and are so visibly proud of this art.