Travel + Photo | A blog by Nathan Busscher

Bull Fight Arena

Bull fights can be a pretty controversial topic so I was reluctant to post any photos from the fight we went to in Pamplona, Spain.  However, these bull fights are part of the Spanish cultural and an an integral part of the San Fermin festival.  As a traveller I believe it’s important to understand the cultural you are visiting and a bull fight is of it.  I’m not going to go into whether it’s right or wrong because I haven’t made up my mind on topic.  I also don’t think it’s my place to say whether it’s right or wrong since I’m not Spanish.  What I will say is that I was surprised by some of the things I saw.  Some of my preconceptions about bull fights were slightly off.

I was surprised to see that when the Matador and the bull have a rhythm together it looks very elegant.

I was surprised that less than 1% of the spectators were foreigners.  One of the main arguments against bull fights is that its only done for foreign tourists but what I witnessed was mainly Spanish spectators.

I knew the fight was going to be gory but seeing it in person is really shocking.

I was surprised by the ceremony surrounding the event.  This wasn’t just about slaughtering a bull.  There is a lot of history and ceremony surrounding the event.

I’m glad we went but once was enough.  I will not likely be attending a bull fight anytime soon.

Here is a short video with clips and photos from the bull fight.

More pictures and an explanation of how a bull fight works after the break.

Warning: graphic images after the break…

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