Spanish Bullfighting Arenas
A Spanish bullfighting arena is called the Plaza de Toros. All major Spanish
cities have impressive bullrings but probably the most outstanding are those in
Madrid, Seville, and Ronda.
Madrid's Bullring
La Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas was built in 1929 and was first used in 1931.
It is the most important bullring in the world with a capacity of 25,000. Every
seat is taken every evening during the world renowned San Isidro Bullfighting
festival in June.
Read more about Madrid's bullring
....
Seville Bullring
 Building of the Maestranza Bullring in Seville began
in 1758
making it Spain's oldest plazas de toros. The origin of modern day bullfighting
on foot (rather than horseback) can be traced back to here and Ronda. It is one of the most charming
bullrings in the country and although its capacity is only 12,500, it attracts
the top bullfighters.
You can see bullfights in Seville from April (during Seville's Feria de
Abril) through to October. Check the bullfight calendar as they don't take place
every weekend.
Ronda Bullring
 The Ronda bullring
was built in 1785 and is one of the oldest and most beautiful in
Spain. Previously it had been Philip II's centre for horsemanship training (Real Maestranza de caballeria).
Bulls were used in this training and when one day an aristocrat fell from his
horse one Francisco Romero came to his help by using his hat to distract it.
The hat was replaced by a cape and modern day bullfighting was born. Romero's
grandson, Pedro Romero, developed all the passes and moves which to this day are
seen at a bullfight. He retired in his eighties after killing more than 5,600
bulls without ever being hurt. Thus Ronda is considered the home of bullfighting.
You can visit the bullring in Ronda which houses a small bullfighting museum.
The bullfighting season in Ronda is from April to October though fights are
quite infrequent. Check with the tourist office next to the bullring.
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