bullfighting

Introduction
History
- Origins and early forms
- Development in the modern era
- The rise of professional bullfighting
- Bullfighting at the turn of the 21st century
Bulls and bullrings
Performers
The spectacle
- Act one
- Act two
- Act three
Bullfighting and the arts

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Julian Lopez El Juli, dressed in a blue and gold bullfighter costume, faces a charging bull while holding a pink and yellow cape in a sandy bullring in Barcelona.

Minoan Bull-Leaping Fresco from Knossos depicts three figures interacting with a leaping bull on a blue background, bordered by colorful geometric patterns.

Crowd of runners in white clothing with red scarves run alongside bulls on a cobblestone street during the Running of the Bulls at the Fiesta de San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain.

Protesters outside Catalonia's Parliament in Barcelona hold signs reading stop animal cruelty and stop, with images of bulls, demonstrating against bullfighting.

Julian Lopez, known as El Juli, stands in a bullring wearing an ornate blue and gold bullfighter costume, holding a large pink and yellow cape.

Aerial view of Estadio Azul soccer stadium with a green field on the left and the circular Plaza Mexico bullring on the right, surrounded by buildings in Mexico City.

At a Glance

bullfighting summary

Quizzes

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Related Questions

How are the six bulls assigned to matadors before a corrida?
How did Joaquín Rodríguez Costillares help create modern bullfighting?
How did Juan Belmonte transform the art of bullfighting?
How did bullfighting crowds in Sevilla, Madrid, Bilbao, and Pamplona develop different reputations?
How do sun seats and shade seats differ at a Spanish bullring?
How does Ernest Hemingway portray bullfighting in Death in the Afternoon?
How does a mano-a-mano bullfight differ from a traditional corrida?
How does a traditional Spanish bullfight unfold from start to finish?
How does the Fiesta de San Fermín in Pamplona relate to bulls and bullfighting?
How does the Ronda school of bullfighting differ from the style associated with Sevilla?
How is the volapié used to kill a bull in a traditional corrida?
How many matadors and bulls usually participate in a traditional bullfight?
Under what circumstances can a bull receive an indulto, or pardon, in a corrida?
What are banderillas and why are they placed in the bull’s shoulders?
What arguments do animal-rights activists make against bullfighting?
What does a bullfighter’s montera hat look like and when is it worn?
What does the phrase hora de verdad mean in bullfighting?
What happens during the alternativa ceremony for a bullfighter?
What happens when a matador does not kill the bull within the allowed time?
What is a bull’s querencia and why does it matter during a corrida?
What is the difference between the volapié and recibiendo methods of killing a bull?
What is the veronica pass in Spanish bullfighting?
What obstacles did Cristina Sánchez face as a female matador in Spain?
What roles do picadors, banderilleros, and matadors have in a bullfight?
Where did modern Spanish bullfighting develop?
Why did Catalonia ban bullfighting in 2010 and what did Spain’s Constitutional Court decide in 2016?
Why did bullfighting become controversial in Spain and other countries?
Why did graceful cape work become more important than a quick kill in modern bullfighting?
Why do picadors lance a bull during the first act of a corrida?
Why is Las Ventas in Madrid considered an important bullring?
Why is mounted bullfighting more central to Portuguese bullfighting than to Spanish bullfighting?
Why might a matador receive one ear, two ears, or a tail after a bullfight?
Why was Conchita Cintrón an important female bullfighter?

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External Websites

ABC listen - Saturday Extra - Into the bullfighting arena
National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Quality of Death in Fighting Bulls during Bullfights: Neurobiology and Physiological Responses
University of California, Berkeley - Department of Anthropology - Torophies and Torphobes: The Politics of Bulls and Bullfights in Contemporary Spain (PDF)

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

bullfighting - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

bullfighting

spectacle

Also known as: combats des taureaux, corrida de toros, corrida de touros, tauromachy, tauromaquia(Show More)

Written by

Barnaby Conrad

Artist-author Barnaby Conrad was born in San Francisco, California, in 1922. He graduated from Taft preparatory school in Connecticut, attended the Univerity of North Carolina, where he was captain of...

Barnaby Conrad

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 6, 2026 •History

bullfighting, the national spectacle of Spain and many Spanish-speaking countries, in which a bull is ceremoniously fought in a sand arena by a matador and usually killed. Bullfighting is also popular in Portugal and southern France, though in the former, where the bull is engaged by a bullfighter on horseback, and in many bullrings in the latter, it is illegal to kill the bull in the arena. A kind of bullfighting is popular in Korea,...

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