What is the purpose of cruel bull fights in spain?

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Lisa P

one belief is that bullfighting as is in present times has its roots based largely in wars that occurred between Iberians and Moors. As history has it, a common war strategy of the Moors was to set fire to the tails of bulls which would cause the herd to stampede into opposing armies in a frenzy. This tactic on the part of the Moors created a need to devise a way of overcoming the oncoming stampede on the part of the Iberian peninsula's previous inhabitants. According to this theory,[citation needed] what we see today in modern bullfighting: swords, horses, Spanish style, muletas, facing the bull without weapons as is seen in Portugal's forcados, etc., was born from the necessity of survival in battles against the Moors.

Lost. at. Sea.

Is a long tradition in Spain but is already banned in many areas like CataluÃ±a. The concept of cruelness to animals can be relative. Hunting a deer or catching a beautiful swordfish to decorate your family room can be more cruel. Or not?

Anecdotique_76

I am Spanish and still haven't discovered where the fun is. I really feel ashamed of it.

Chelsea

Recently I wrote a paper on bullfighting and compared it to Allen Guttmann's model of the modernization of sport. Though I have never been to a bullfight (I think it is a bit gory for me) I now understand a bit more about the historic origins of the sport and why it has remained a part of the culture. Bulls are almost synonymous with the Spanish culture. When driving down the roads in Spain, there are bull billboards. Spain is also a plateau which makes it difficult to raise crops, so they raise bulls. Every town/village/city has there own patron saints day in which some sort of bull event takes place. The event is part of the community, it is something everyone looks forward to and everyone takes part. For example, the running of the bulls in Pamplona is Pamplona's way of celebrating. Like these religious celebrations, bullfighting is also a celebration of communities.
Bullfighting was originally a sport for the lower class, however it was taken over by the noble people. It returned to the lower classes at the beginning of the 18th century. Since then, bullfighting has developed into what it is today. If you watch a bullfight, many of the ritualistic aspects will be lost to you. Matadors are trained for years, and the famous matadors have had to rise through the ranks, just like a basketball player would to play in the NBA. Matadors don't just kill the bull, they fight it, with the risk of being injured. Each of the 'banderillas' that the matador sticks in the bull has to be put in a certain way and time. Even the footwork the matador uses is ritualistic. At the end, the bull dies but it it's meat is given to the people. So despite the way the bull dies, it does serve a purpose a feeds the people.
You may also think that bullfighting is dying out but somehow i just don't believe that. There is has been great opposition to bullfighting since the 1700s and I am sure far before that for a number of different reasons.
Though bullfights are deemed cruel, I think that everyone realizes that bullfighting is a sport and that it is a representation of the Spanish culture. The actions that occur inside the corrida represent centuries of history. It is even a great draw for tourism in Spain.
I hope this helps give you a better insight to the tradition of the sport.

Jujubear.

Lain? uhh what? I can understand the top paragraph... not so much the bottom two...
Its wonderful that certain people in Spain enjoy and think killing bulls as a sport is fun. But really? its a sport? someone comes out with a crew of helpers and slowly breaks down the bull, and then when the bull is finally drained of energy one stabs it? And you feel the need to make fun of Black people? Let me know please, because I'm having a hard time seeing how men dressed in "underwear" is so degrading while men dressed in pretty and colorful skin tight dresses, with little mirrors and such are very civilized athletes?
I don't think you understand... where do you think the sacks of money the foreigners get paid with come from? Its actually from the Spanish people who pay to go watch them play. sorry to break your heart.
About the foreigners, umm, if your country was such a football hotbed of talent, foreigners wouldn't be needed to fill the seats in the stadium... Who do you think want the foreigners to play in your country? exactly.
They kick a ball around, and bullfighters run circles around bulls. What point were you trying to make?

Really? these men wear shorts not underwear; you know what is a bit worrying to me? watching men in pretty colorful skin tight dresses, with little mirrors and such...
Boxing is men fighting men, if bullfighting is such a great sport, why don't we have a man with no help against a bull? Lets not have men on horses, with little helpers stabbing and weakening the bull.i'm almost certain of the outcome...
I'm sorry, you want to talk about injuries? Do you not watch the news? Even here in America, I see more of "10 people were killed today by stampeding bulls, and another 45 people are in critical condition after being gored". To tell you the truth, I have heard of maybe a few cases of debilitating brain damage from boxing.

Jessica C

Beats me. I just know it is very cruel.

Carousel

There is no real purpose. It's part of the Spanish culture. It will eventually die out and has done in many parts of Spain.
There is no way of getting away from the cruelty, a bit like foxhunting in the UK. Having said that, there are still many people who want foxhunting to be reintroduced. I guess you may get rid of cruelty but you'll never get rid of cruel people.
What a legacy for the human race.

Joan el guiri

Lots of people enjoy it and think that it is fun. Its purpose is to make money from this dubious pleasure. It is a 'country sport' which has been commercialised.

A bit like dressing up foreigners, especially black guys, in underwear and paying them sacks of money to kick a ball for our amusement. We call that 'football'.

We also have 'boxing'. This consists of dressing up poor, stupid black guys in underwear again, (a bit worrying this!) and paying them sacks of money to knock the hell out of each other. Often the participants suffer brain damage. This is good. It is called a 'knock-out'!

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