For the retail complex in Birmingham, UK, see Bull Ring, Birmingham. For other uses, see Bull Ring.
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A bullring
is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with Spain, but they can also be found in neighboring countries and the New World. Bullrings are often historic and culturally significant centers that bear many structural similarities to the Roman amphitheatre.
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BULLRING TICKETS
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Common Structure
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
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 been seen in the bullrings of today (in fact the ring in Nimes, France, is a Roman artifact, 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 utilized 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 area. It was only later, when bullfights were conducted principally by men on foot, that the public needed a structure to house them appropriately. 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. In these early days, the circular form was not to be taken for granted. When
La Maestranza bullring in
Sevilla 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 change from the 19th to the 20th 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.
Alternate uses
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, bull rings were used
in the Basque Country for 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, allegedly, many were executed there.
Bullrings of the world
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) and
Plaza de toros de Mexico in
Mexico. The main bullrings are usually found in Spain, southern
France and
Portugal, and in former
Spanish colonies in the New World countries of
Mexico,
Costa Rica,
Panama,
Venezuela,
Colombia,
Ecuador,
Peru and
Uruguay. Some include:
- Spain
- *Coso de los califas, Córdoba
- *La Monumental (),Barcelona. (1919)
- *La Maestranza, Sevilla. (1761)
- *Les Arenes, Barcelona, Under conversion to a shopping arcade
- *Plaza de Toros de Albacete, Albacete. (1917)
- *Plaza de toros de El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz. (1880)
- *Plaza de Toros de Granada, Granada. (1928)
- *Plaza de Toros de La Coruña, A Coruña. (1991)
- *Plaza de Toros de Illumbe, San Sebastián. (1998)
- *Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, Madrid. (1931)
- *Plaza de Toros de Murcia, Murcia. (1885)
- *Plaza de toros de Ronda, Ronda. (1784)
- *Plaza de Toros de Pamplona, Pamplona. (1922) Where ends the famous encierro or the running of the bulls in San Fermin´s festival
- *Plaza de Toros de Valencia, Valencia. (1851)
- *Plaza de Toros La Glorieta, Salamanca. (1893)
- France
- *The Arena of Nimes, Nimes
- Portugal
- *Campo Pequeno bull ring, Lisbon
- *Monumental Praça de Touros da Póvoa de Varzim, Porto
- Mexico
- *Coliseo Centenario, Torreón
- *Plaza de toros México, Mexico City (Currently the biggest bullring worldwide)
- *Plaza de Toros Monumental de Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes
- *Plaza de Toros Monumental de Tijuana, Tijuana
- *Plaza de Toros Santa María, Santiago de Queretaro
- *Plaza Monumental de Morelia, Morelia
- *Plaza Nuevo Progreso, Guadalajara
- Venezuela
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- *Plaza de toros Monumental de Valencia, Valencia, Carabobo. (The 2nd biggest bullring in the world)
- *Plaza de toros Monumental de Maracaibo, Maracaibo
- *Plaza Monumental de Toros de Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal, Táchira
- *Plaza Monumental Román Eduardo Sandia, Mérida, Mérida
- Colombia
- *Santamaría Bullring, Bogotá
- Ecuador
- *Plaza de toros de Quito, Quito.
- Peru
- *Plaza de toros de Acho, Lima. 30 January 1766.
- Uruguay
- *Plaza de toros Real de San Carlos, Colonia del Sacramento