bullfighting, Spanish corrida de toros, Spectacle, popular in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, in which matadors ceremonially taunt, and usually kill, bulls in an arena. Spectacles with bulls were common in ancient Crete, Thessaly, and Rome. In the modern era, Roman amphitheatres were rebuilt and embellished for use as bullrings. The largest are in Madrid, Barcelona, and Mexico City. The corrida, which usually involves six individual fights, begins with a procession of matadors and their entourages. At the beginning of each fight an assistant (banderillero) performs a preliminary maneuver to allow the matador to assess the animal’s behaviour. The matador then performs his capework, drawing the bull as close to him as possible without being gored. This is followed by the entrance of the picadors, horsemen who jab the bull with lances to weaken its neck and shoulder muscles. The matador then ritually slays the bull using a sword. In the Portuguese version of the ritual, the bull is fought from horseback and is not killed in the arena. In recent times, bullfighting has come under intense criticism from animal-rights activists.
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