Royals at the Bullring

Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain

The young royal here certainly appears to be King Peter II of Yugoslavia, however, the Royal Bullring of Seville gallery captions this as Umberto of Savoy (King Umberto II of Italy), Princess Maria Pia of Italy and the Dukes of Alba. Make of it what you will.

Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace of Monaco

Princess Grace and Prince Rainier III of Monaco

King Juan Carlos I of Spain

King Juan Carlos I accepting the dedication

King Juan Carlos I at his last bullfight as King of Spain

Politics and Bullfights

I have always thought that one can learn a great deal from watching a bull fight. You can even learn a great deal about republican politics from a bull fight. Consider this: imagine a traditional Spanish bullfight. The bull is rather like “the people”, strong, powerful, ignorant, easily annoyed and easily fooled. The matador and his assistants are rather like “the government”. They poke and prod and infuriate the beast (the people) with lances and darts we call taxes, regulations, limitations to your personal freedom and laws restricting your daily lives. The red cape is what we might call “democracy”, the brightly colored attractive looking thing that the government waves in front of the charging mob to distract them and direct their anger away from the government itself. In order to keep “the government” safe, “democracy” is always waved about as the answer to every problem, the thing we should blame for our injuries and yet also the answer to all of our problems. However, whenever the people charge toward it, “democracy” simply sweeps over them and disappears. But, eventually, “the people” become so weak, exhausted and submissive that they are no longer of any value. And we all know what happens then…

Just a word of friendly warning to all who put their faith in politicians from - The Mad Monarchist.

MM Video: Royals at the Bullring

Mad Rant: Battling for Bullfighting

As most regular readers know I am a big fan of the ancient sporting spectacle of the traditional Spanish bullfight. Although unable recently, this was the only draw for me to visit Mexico in recent years (where thankfully the sport seems safe enough for now) but it is obviously a sport most associated with Spain. So, it was with great sadness that I heard the (expected) news that the local government of Catalonia has become the first region in Spain to abolish the corrida de toros. There is probably nothing more culturally associated with the Kingdom of Spain than the image of the fierce fighting bull and the fearless, elegant matador. His Catholic Majesty King Juan Carlos is a proud supporter of bullfighting (as is HRH the Infanta Elena) and he once threatened to take Spain out of the EU if Brussels ever attempted to ban the sport. I suppose it never occurred to His Catholic Majesty that a Spanish government would beat the EU bureaucrats to the job.

Let me say, opponents of bullfighting should read no more -you will not like this and I am not trying to have a ‘discussion’ about it. I know it is not for everyone and I do not demand everyone to be a fan. I simply object to those opposed to it trying to ruin it for everyone else. Some people will never like bullfighting and I would not encourage just anyone to go see a match. Every time is different but, let there be no confusion, it is a blood sport. Bulls will be injured, they will bleed and they will die. There is always a chance a human will as well but that never seems to matter to anyone. Every match is different and I have seen some get pretty gruesome -I will leave it at that. So, this is certainly not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’ as they say. I can certainly understand that. For those people my seemingly simple advice is; do not go, do not watch, do not give them your ticket money. Do not try to ruin the experience of others and destroy a centuries old tradition just because of your own personal squeamishness.

That being said, I am absolutely a fan. To me there is no greater ‘spectator sport’ in the world. The whole atmosphere of a bullring is impossible to describe. I love everything about it; the heat, the dust, the blazing sun, the blaring trumpets, the roar of the crowd and the outlandishly dressed bullfighters strutting the ring before facing down over a thousand pounds of charging death. The bullfighters (not just the matadors) are all men of great courage and agility (though I have seen some portly picadores but they are not really required to be agile in their job). As has long been said, bullfighting is not so much the test of a man and a bull but a test of a man and his courage. To me it is a beautiful thing, poetry in motion, the ultimate combination of strength, stamina, grace, agility, showmanship, quick reflexes and nerves of steel. I have never been a participant of course, but growing up on a ranch I have tangled with plenty of huge, angry bulls and I can tell you that standing perfectly still in the face of the business end of a charging bull is no small trick. Try it sometime.

Of course, the objections come from animal “rights” activists who deplore the cruelty and brutality of it all. Personally I think that, in itself, is a rather simplistic and barbaric way of looking at such an ancient and awesome ritual. Even in the style of bullfights wherein the bull is not killed in the ring, they are still killed afterward. Cattle are not exactly an endangered species and I sometimes wonder if these people are all militant vegans or if they just never stopped to consider where their hamburgers, meatballs or steak & eggs came from. I know the answer would be that it is the method that is the problem, but I for one find it far more grand and dignified for the bull to die in the ring, where he has at least a fighting chance, with the crowd applauding his strength and ferocity; going down in a blaze of glory rather than simply being bashed in the head with a hammer in an assembly-line style execution.

A Spain without bullfighting would be like a Spain without a monarchy - that is no Spain at all anyone would recognize. This is as much a part of Spanish culture as fox hunting and tea time is to the English -or at least was. Cultural globalization and the uniformity constantly being pushed by the people with “I love diversity” bumper stickers has already meant that bullfights are not nearly as common in Spain as they once were. Even in Catalonia where the ban was passed there was only one bullring still in operation. Even without the animal “rights” fundamentalists the grand sport and spectacle of Spain would still be endangered simply by the encroaching, crushing, bland, modern mono-culture that is descending on the world. And it all makes me an extremely, *extremely*… Mad Monarchist.