Many visitors to Spain would love to include watching a bullfight as one of their "to-do" things, but if you visit Barcelona , you won't want to. Read on to find out just why.
The image of the Bull is a Spanish emblem brave, strong, and wild and seen from outside Spain , must be one of the typical images of Spain and everything Spanish. Images are broadcasted worldwide of "San Fermines" in Pamplona in early July of the "Bull runs" where people run down the cordoned-off streets in front of the bulls with red neckerchiefs to taunt the animals all the way down to the bull ring. And bullfighting is a tradition which goes back centuries.
Whether or not you agree with the bullfighting (there is a fierce debate about whether it is cruelty to animals or sport) many people, simple curious, would mark going to see a bull fight as a must-see attraction when visiting Spain . Barcelona is the second most visited city in Spain , so that must be a good idea, right?
Wrong. Although Barcelona has 2 Bull rings Monumental and Plaa de las Arenas only 1 is a functioning one: Monumental. Plaa de las Arenas is currently undergoing a complete makeover (work started is 2005, and is still going on today, nowhere near finished) to make the old bull ring into a shopping mall. Monumental, on the opposite side of town does still have bull fights, but only during the summer months, and you would be hard pressed to find a local there. The majority of spectators are tourists many of whom leave after a short while, appalled and or disgusted. Bullfighting is seen as a very Spanish affair, and of course, Barcelona is Catalonia , and Catalonia (as the signs in shop windows, and banners at football matches will tell you) is not Spain . So the Catalans reject Bullfighting as an attempt to enforce their own national pride and one the one hand, I suppose you could say it has worked Placa de las Arenas as a Bull ring is no more. The Catalans go even further with their mockery of Bull fighting. Elsewhere in spain , it's common to see car stickers of the "Toro Bravo" blazened across many a car or motorbike. The Catalans embrace their own indigenous species instead, mocking the bull a donkey!
So Bullfighting is definitely not the thing to do in Barcelona . As it is not very popular, you get the not-so-famous "matadors" and the animals too are not as spectacular as one might imagine. There is plenty to see and do in Barcelona without going to a bull ring. Or leave it a few more years, go to the mall at Plaa de las Arenas, and you can say you did go to a real Bull ring!
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