Make Way for the Matadors
Back in the United States, tension and uncertainty are mounting to excruciating levels as November 4 nears. One guy will win, one guy will lose, and the specters of voting improprieties and riot police haunt many Americans’ visions of what might happen on Election Day 2008.
Hopefully the presidential candidates’ “duel to the death” will be metaphoric, not literal.
Here in Peru, the end of October signals the arrival of another highly anticipated, combative event: bullfighting season.
The blood shed in Lima’s historic Plaza de Acho stadium this November is certain to be real, however.
South America’s oldest bullfighting ring (c. 1766) draws crowds for its annual festival of Spanish-style bullfighting, also known as corrida de toros or fiesta brava, in which the bull is provoked and killed by the matador (or, occasionally, the other way around).
Other styles of bullfighting allow the bull to survive the ordeal. These forms include the Basque recortes, in which toreros earn points for their acrobatic maneuvers on and around the bull; the French course libre, in which participants try to snatch a rosette from the bull’s head; and freestyle bullfighting, a wrestling sport developed in the American rodeo.
But these more humane styles aren’t popular in Peru or in the rest of South America.
Peruvian fans want to see the classic, ritual slaughter performed in all its elaborate, ceremonial gore. Anti-taurino (anti-bullfighting) groups have grown more active in Peru in recent years, protesting outside bullfighting rings and writing editorials that condemn the sport’s brutality. Their outcries make the daily headlines and register a small, but growing opinion among Peruvians that the corrida is a cruel, bloodthirsty sport.
Which is exactly the point, reply the corrida fans. It’s a ritual of death and animal sacrifice.
It’s a senseless, barbaric, over-romanticized ritual, counter the activists! Stop the disgusting slaughter now!
If you’re so bothered by those deaths, retort the bullfighting fans, why don’t you object to the killing of animals for meat? Millions of animals suffer horrendous abuses and die in agony in slaughterhouses. Why not direct your anger and indignation at those practices?
And the debate rages on.
Meanwhile, South America’s biggest bullfighting festival will get underway November 1, six days from now, when La Feria de Acho 2008, in Lima, opens its gates. Internationally renowned matadors from Europe and Latin America will take part on four consecutive Sundays.
The media blitz is underway, and I can feel taurino fever creeping over the city. Centuries-old tradition links mes morado with the Acho festival. First we honor El Senor de los Milagros (October), then, we go to the bullfights (November).
To completely conflate the two concepts, the bullfight festival also is referred to as la Feria del Señor de los Milagros
In other words, it’s the season of sacrifices: Christ on the cross, then the bulls.
No wonder I’ve got this knot in the pit of my stomach.
The tension reminds of me what I used to experience during the buildup to Election Day in the United States, with this important difference: whatever happens in the Acho ring is not going to sway the course of world events.
Fellow blogger Rachel in Peru has posted an informative overview of the history of the Acho bullring and, for those readers considering attending, offers advice about buying tickets. (You can purchase individual tickets through Teleticket starting today, October 26.)
If you want to see pictures of the eight bulls that will be sacrificed on Day 1, click here. (They are fearsome, magnificent-looking animals. I can’t imagine standing in a ring and taunting one of those creatures to run at me.)
For the record, here’s the schedule for the 2008 Acho Bullfighting Festival, with participating toreros in parentheses:
Saturday, November 1: Novillada Promocional (youngster day)
Sunday, November 2: Corrida de Toros (Uceda Leal, Fernando Roca Rey, David Galán)
Sunday, November 9, Corrida de Toros (David “El Fandi” Fandilla, José María Manzaneres, Alfonso Simpson)
Sunday, November 16: Corrida de Toros (Matlas Tejela, Miguel Angel Perera & TBA)
Sunday, November 23: Corrida de Toros (Enrique Ponce, Sebastian Castella, Miguel Angel Perera)
Oh, and as I’ve just found out, the 11-year-old bullfighter I met in the park, Andres (“El Andi”) Roca Rey, will be competing in the November 1st Novillada.
Links:
Boy Bullfighters in the Park and El Híjo Weighs in on Bullfighting (An American in Lima, July 2008)
Encyclopedia Brittanica article on bullfighting (a balanced overview)
La Tauromaquia: English- and Spanish-language website run by a former professional bullfighter from Seville, Spain, with news and essays about bullfighting. (pro-bullfighting)
FAACE (Fight Against Animal Cruelty in Spain): English-language site run by an activist group in the U.K. that seeks to ban “blood fiestas” in Spain and other ritualized violence against animals. (anti-bullfighting, obviously)
Perú Antitaurino: Spanish-language website of Peruvian organization that wants to raise awareness of animal cruelty in Peru and to end Spanish-style bullfighting in the country. (anti)
Tauromaquia: Spanish-language blog from Peru, with extensive coverage and analysis of bullfights in Peru. Updated daily. Includes a countdown clock for those who are counting the minutes until La Feria de Acho begins. (Serious bullfighting fan site)
Barbara
I am an American writer who lived in Lima for seven years (2007-2014), where I covered Andean traditions, melting glaciers and daily life in the capital for Miami Herald, MSNBC and Huffington Post. I now live and work in northern Florida where I champion climate change advocacy and compassionate, affordable eldercare.
7 Comments
eltaurino
Yeah, throw W and Cheney in Plaza Acho to see who comes out in one piece. Feed them some gun powder and raw meat beforehand to get them in the mood…
Peruanista
Oh no… you didn’t.
You actually want to write about this savage and sadistic tradition?
This is one of the things I rather not to talk about, it is a very shameful tradition of groups of Peruvians. I totally rejected, it’s animal torture at its best -or worst- and I think it should be forbidden by law.
Barb
Of course I want to write about it, Peruanista, the tradition is at the heart of a growing controversy in Peru, and there is much debate over whether it should be continued (for custom’s sake), modified or banned entirely. (The group Peru Antitaurino has been trying to get Congress to pass an antibullfighting law, #496, since 2006.)
I will be covering the events at Acho this weekend, where a large protest is set take place. I will be interviewing bullfighters, afficionados and protestors, to get their opinions and responses.
Peruanista
Good point Barbara, bring your husband with you, to watch your surroundings. I will write about this – if time allows – I am volunteering for Obama in Virginia this weekend… time has come!
dee davies
this is barbaric practise which should have been banned centuries ago. tradition or aquired customs s no excuse for this cowardly (in the bullfighters case, )disgusting fiesta. this is just animal torture watched by sick people.
Barb
Many people in Peru feel like you do, Dee. There is a growing protest movement here in Lima, mainly by younger people.
Fernando Renteria Puccinelli
I do not speak English but I want to say Bullfighting is part of our Peruvian Culture. You can not criticize if you do not know all those things surrounding this festivity which is much more than “kill that bull in 30 minutes”. Behind it, there are many other activities involved that were prepared for this event for almost 10 months, previously.
Hollywood and the media promote much more violence every day, but that is Ok.
Millions of cows are sacrifice in the slaughterhouses with much more cruelty than in the arenas nevertheless that is also Ok. After all, nobody has died being vegetarian.
Fernando Renteria– Lima.Peru