Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 233 3rd International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Humanities (ICCESSH 2018) Bullfighting Activities in Spain and Its Prohibition Xingzhen Lin Xinhua College of Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, China Abstract—Parties of bullfights are very popular in Spain, as and squires were included to for horses changing or urgent well as in other bullfighting countries. The present work rescue. The pawns and auxiliaries helped to take the bull to introduces the history of bullfighting and reveals the the picador, thus facilitating the killing. The cloak work was importance of this activity in Spain from the cultural and also evolved and the aesthetic value, acquired. industrial perspective. In addition, it examines the current situation of bullfighting through the bullfighting controversy In the sixteenth century, urban slaughterhouses appeared. and the prohibition resulting in the bullfighting world. The cattle works were developing. The slaughterers began to make the sacrifice in a creative way and thus attracted Keywords—bullfights; bullfighting prohibition; anti- interest from the public. The activities of that time were bullfighting controversy documented by the municipal authority, and they were also presented in many oil paintings. In the second half of the I. INTRODUCTION same century, in Seville, spectators were built. Then in the seventeenth century, unlike the on-horseback bullfighters, Bullfights have a history of centuries in Spain. They tend those who were on foot arose with their own style and value. to be an irreplaceable party in Spain, as well as in some At that time, many bullfighters, instead of being noble, were bullfighting countries. At present, this ancient festival is from village. They were gaining more sympathy and taste controversial throughout the world. They consider it as an from the audience. In the eighteenth century, you could important tradition, a special culture, a national symbol, a already find all the current elements in the then corridas. source of income, violence towards animals, an impact on There were many famous bullfighters. Later, thanks to the modern values, etc. Under such a complicated and intense famous bullfighters like Paquiro1 and Cúchares2, bullfighting controversy, how can bullfighting advance more in human acquired its definitive structure as what we have today. history? It is a question that is worth discussing in detail. In the twentieth century, the decade from 1910 to 1920 is II. THE BULLFIGHTING CULTURE IN SPAIN called the Golden Age of bullfighting due to the competitiveness between Juan Belmonte3 and José Gómez4, A. History and Development of Bullfighting who contributed a lot to modern bullfighting. After the Spanish Civil War, the bullfighting boom emerged. Many The activity of the bulls can be traced back to the Bronze owed it to the figure of Manolete, one of the great Age. In ancient times, it was done to demonstrate bravery. bullfighters of Spain. Then follow other bullfighting figures Roman nobles participated in arena circus shows with both Spanish and Mexican. After the Tragedy of Linares, aurochs, demonstrating their skills as hunters. The activity that is, the death of Manolete 5 , the rivalry between appeared during public executions at the time of the Dominguín and Antonio Ordóñez played an important role. persecution and during the gladiatorial clashes. From the fifties until the seventies, the emergence of many In the Middle Ages, the lance of bulls was added. In extraordinary bullfighters continued. Among them, it is 6 addition, more people became fond of this activity, including worth mentioning Manuel Benítez El Cordobés , who is Alfonso X El Sabio. According to the chronicle, the characterized by his unorthodox and revolutionary style. bullfighting had more functions, like a celebration when marrying the noble ones, or a celebration of warlike victories, 1 Artistic name of Fancisco Montes Reina (1805-1851), bullfighter etc. and famous, a great innovator of the fight, especially in the luck of capes. 2 As for auxiliary instruments of bullfighting, although Artistic name of Fancisco Arjona Herrera (1818-1868), Spanish academic support is lacking, it is popularly believed that it is bullfighter. 3 Juan Belmonte García (1892-1962), called the Pasmo de Triana, the Spanish Moors who started the practice with layers to was a Spanish bullfighter, probably the most popular in history and distract the spearing of cattle. From the sixteenth century, the considered by many to be the founder of modern bullfighting. rods appeared, the predecessor of the “Rejón Runs”, which 4 José Gómez Ortega (1895-1920), called Gallito and later also means prick runs. Joselito, was a famous bullfighter, a Roma native. 5 At that time, European kings and ambassadors were Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez (1917-1947), better known as Manolete, was one of the great bullfighters of Spain in the 1940s. invited to the bullfighting shows during their stay in Spain. 6 Manuel Benítez Pérez (born in 1936), better known as El In this way, it spread throughout Europe. To distract the Cordobés, is a famous bullfighter from the 1960s, who brought an cattle, when the nobles were fighting on horseback, pawns unorthodox acrobatic and theatrical style to the bullring. Copyright © 2018, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). 1566 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 233 Then, in the decades of the seventies and eighties, the not difficult to find the image of bulls in the works of Picasso, bullfight spread outside of Spain, even to the United States. Goya, etc. Nowadays in Spain, a great diversity in bullfighting style The bull retains many deep and typical senses. It is can be found. In addition, the nationality of the bullfighters is closely related to adventure, history, celebration and fight, not limited to Spain, nor is the presentation of bullfights meanwhile, it can symbolize courage, tragedy, war, death, or limited to their country of origin. it can mean cruelty, barbarism, torture, and inhumanity12. It is considered as a Spanish living culture. Throughout the B. The Bull as a Symbol of Spain time, bullfighting is no longer a single sport. As Federico García Lorca says, the festival of bullfights is the most Normally, bullfighting, like flamenco dancing, is 13 considered one of the most important emblems of the cultured one in the world . country. Currently, bullfighting is still very representative of As mentioned, bullfighting has a long history in Spain Spain. In China, when referring to Spain, we usually say the and used to play a very prominent role in Spanish culture. country of the bulls. As for the news, especially sports news, Since the Middle Ages, people used the running of bulls and it is very common to use a metaphor, that is, instead of bullfights on different celebrating occasions, whether at saying the name of the athlete, use the word "bullfighter". weddings or real and aristocratic births, or at religious In sum, the bull has already become a very important and festivals, such as the canonization of saints or the blessing of accepted symbol, both in Spain and outside of this country. temples and cathedrals. Therefore, with its long existence As Rafael Alberti says, "nobody can bend it, nor can anyone and its striking presentation, it can be said that bullfighting is kill it, because it is the all of Spain". deeply rooted in Spanish culture and ideology. Until now, this tradition maintains its popularity. Each III. THE ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION OF BULLFIGHTS IN year millions of tourists from other parts of the world visit SPAIN Spain, and most of them want to know and witness this The bullfights are the second show of Spain after football. bullfighting tradition. Spain has more than 400 bullrings, It is logical that there are many related industries that support where more than 5000 screenings are organized each year. In them. For example, cattle ranching bulls, transportation of addition, the celebration of the San Fermín festival, which bulls, the doctor, the maintenance of beef, tourism, business takes place from July 6 to 14 in Pamplona, attracts the in the vicinity of the bullrings, the making of costumes for attention of the world every year, especially the running of bullfighters, bullfighting schools, bullfighting magazines, etc. the bulls and the bullfight. Although it is dangerous, many people, many foreigners included, prefer to take the risk to In Spain, raising a bull is expensive. In fact, according to experience such a lively and exciting occasion. the president of the Union of Breeders of Spain, Carlos Miura, 90% of the farms have problems to obtain benefits. It is also a very mentioned theme in the literature. This Normally, bulls eat a lot, about seven kilos of feed every day, special celebration inspired many writers from Spain and 7 which means two euros per day. "There is no better attended other countries, including Federico García Lorca , Miguel species than the fighting bull. Its care is comparable to that Hernández8, Hemingway9 and Alberti10. The novel Sangre y 11 of race horses "says Miura. Before selling a bull, which Arena by Vicente Blasco is one of the best known of this worth from 500 euros to 20,000, people need to take care of theme in China. In addition, four films have been made it for about five years, with about 5,000 euros in cost. based on the novel. Apart from this Spanish novel, we can’t Furthermore, a large investment is required in land, time, overlook the one of Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises. This capital, etc. That is why José Luis Castro, member of the novel presents a very detailed description of the party in National Association of Shepherd Managers, reveals that the Pamplona and shows his love of this activity.