The thing to see in Ronda was the bullfighting ring. Evidently, their ring is very famous.
We learned a bit about bullfighting today. I had never been interested in it, but to hear the process explained, it sounds unnecessarily brutal. I’m no animal rights activist or anything. I eat meat and I don’t particularly care for it when people bring their dogs into stores and onto restaurant patios. I realize this makes me part of a grumpy minority in the US, but I am who I am. Even still, the practice of bullfighting from start to finish seems pretty cruel. The first thing that happens is that they take the bull from its home and put it in a small pen for a few days before the fight. They feed it, of course, but it doesn’t get to move around a lot. On the day of the fight, it is ushered into the ring, where the first thing that happens is apparently a tendon in its neck is cut so its head stays low. This prevents the fighter from some of the more fatal injuries. After that, and I am not sure if I heard it all correctly, another incision or two is made to further disable the animal, then the fancy footwork of the fight actually begins in earnest. At the end of the fight, if the man wins, he is to kill the bull quickly with a sword. If the bull is the victor, he may go back to wherever he came from and help breed more bulls. Not sure if the low-hanging head from the cut tendon makes him less attractive to the ladies, but it seems better to be pressed into stud service than killed in the ring.
If the bullfighter is well loved by the audience, he is encouraged to cut off an ear after his victory. This is a great prize. If the bullfighter is amazing, the crowd insists he take both ears. If he is out of this world, they encourage him to take the tail.
The whole thing really does seem unnecessarily cruel. Cas and I started to think of other things they could add to the process. Maybe beforehand, they could question the bull’s parentage and mock him for his inability to read. Have they considered a clown wig? Maybe they can call him names and let him know how well his old girlfriend is doing with her new fella. Why just stop at disabling him, killing him for spectacle and taking his parts as trophies? Like I said, it seems a bit much.
There were a few people in our group who were truly offended by the tour. They were the same ones who were having the conversation about what they feed their dogs the other day, and it sounded like their dogs eat better than I do during the work day. I get it, though. If you love animals, this whole process is unconscionable. I am pretty ambivalent toward animals, and I thought it was barbaric.
If I’m being honest, though, the bullfighting ring was a beautiful building, the town was gorgeous and the afternoon was just about perfect. Cas and I are getting settled in to our hotel room in Costa Del Sol, now, in a city called Marbella. The place is absolutely stunning. We have dinner plans at 7:30, but since sundown is so late, I think we may take a walk to the beach after that. These days are very long right now- but that may have something to do with the fact that the summer solstice is in two days. Pretty good timing, if you ask me.
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