June 25, 1999
Although Portugal has produced some out-standing matadores, the most recent example being the now-retired Victor Mendes, most of their corridas feature rejoneadores. On most afternoons, after the rejoneador completes his work from horseback, the forcados enter, to do their rather strange, although dangerous, duties of wrestling the bull to a standstill. Then, at least as it has been since 1928, the bull is removed from the arena, where it stands around in the corrals, until somebody dispatches it with a gun. In the meantime, as the animal cools off, it endures great pain from the pic and banderillas wounds in its shoulders.
Although this observer respects the traditions of other countries, watching Portuguese bullfights is far from number one on my list of priorities, and it has nothing to do with liking or disliking rejoneo. But, upholding the dignity of Toro Bravo, and making certain that he be treated with honor and endures no extraordinary punishment is very much the concern of genuine aficionados.
Toro de lídia is only a distant cousin of domestic beef bulls, which are raised, shoulder-to-shoulder with their brethren, in muddy corrals, castrated, then eventually given the ignoble death of a sledge hammer in the head. At least, their deaths are quick and provide them an escape from their wretched existence. But, many people who have visited the raw carnage of the slaughterhouse have become instant converts to vegetarianism.
On the other hand, toros Bravos are noble creatures, which are born and raised as purebred animals of privilege. They're raised on special ranches, where they live as wild animals and are afforded countless acres of the finest graze and plenty of water. They learn to use their horns by killing trees and sparring with their brothers. They rarely see man on-foot, and they never see cows, a reality that undoubtedly contributes to their negative dispositions.
Toros de Lídia are very territorial. There are stories on record of fighting bulls, killing themselves, attacking freight trains or trucks which seem to have invaded their domains. If a bull from one group should wander into a different group, the members of that group will team up and kill the invader.
They are such special animals that, in Spain, bull breeders have the right to kill any aspiring wannable torero who should sneak into the fields, usually at night, and attempt to get a bull to attack, and in the process, learn the ways of man.
Toros Bravos are bred and raised for only one purpose to, at four years of age —twice the life span of the miserable slaughterhouse steer— be sent to the plaza de toros. There, they are afforded the opportunity to perform with dignity and glory, and receive an honorable death, by the sword. In the arena, Toro Bravo can outrun any quart-erhorse for 100 yards; can raise his own weight atop their horns; catch a leaf in mid-air, or pick up a postage stamp from the ground. They are hell on hooves. Although their meat is consumed, it's rather tough and stringy.
In the arena, Toro Bravo is in a condition of "hot blood." It's rather as a soldier in battle, whose arm is shot off. Surging Adrenaline keeps either man or beast from suffering any appreciable degree of pain.
Therefore, in comparative terms, the Portuguese bullfights are much more cruel to the bulls than are those in Spain, France, South America and Mexico.
But, all of that may soon change. In Lisboa, the Portuguese Parliament is debating a return to the tradition of killing bulls in the arena. The debate is so intense, that, last month, police had to provide a security ring around the Asamblea de La República, in order to keep the taurinos and anti-taurinos from causing a riot. The much more vociferous anti-taurinos not only want to leave the law the way it is, but wish that bullfighting, in any form, would simply go the way of the dodo bird.
Inside the Palacio, the Socialist Party passed the buck by assigning the debate to the agriculture commission, which will study the issue for a few months. (Does that sound familiar?)
Bullfighting has always had more than its share of scandals, usually involving horn shaving, underage or underweight bulls, or the drugging of the animals, all of which are despised by genuine aficionados. The latest chapter of taurine Machiavellia is being realized in Ecuador, where two major bull ranches have been sanctioned for presenting novillos as mature toros.
Ganaderias Huagrahuasi and Carlos Manuel Cobo y Triana received heavy fines and have been banned for two years from presenting bulls in the arenas of Ecuador, according to a bulletin issued by the Humberto Jácome Harb, president of the Comisión Taurina del Concepto Metropolitano, in Quito.
TORO TOPICS
The next Tijuana corrida de toros will be celebrated June 26, in the downtown ring, for matadores Alfredo Lomelí, Humberto Flores, and Iñaki Elias, who will face bulls of San Pablo. The action begins at 4:30. Tickets should be easy to purchase, at the bull ring.
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