Bloodless Bullfight

A few years ago I had this argument with a girl from The Netherlands who had nothing but contempt for the Basques, that one time we discussed the issue of the bloodless bullfighting in Euskal Herria. She denied it existed.

Here you have this information published at The Olive Press (witty name by the way):

The other bullfighting

November 13, 2007 | Features

THE young man runs towards the charging bull. The crowd cheers loudly, much louder than normal. The bull looks confused. Expecting to have impaled his foe he now finds he is behind him. The performer has dived over the top of the bull, rolled over and is now back on his feet.

This is a different kind of bull fighting. It is bloodless, more acrobatic than the conventional style and growing in popularity across Spain.

.......

The main difference between this version and recortes, roughly translated as ‘trimming,’ is the most obvious. The animal lives. No blood is shed and after the fight the bull goes back out to graze and maybe enjoy the company of a few cows.

The participants wear less formal clothes and, in many cases, perform more daring stunts than their armed counterparts. Those taking part often work in teams of two but the fight is not split into definable stages.

Acrobatic

This style can be traced to the Basque Country and is often referred to as the Basque-Navarra style. Goya’s depiction of 19th century fighter Juanito Apiñani pole vaulting over a charging bull sums it up quite well.

In the Concurso de Recadores, the performer runs adjacent to the bull while it runs at him. Just before he is impaled on the horns, he arches his back, narrowly avoiding being hit before running off to the side of the ring with the bull in hot pursuit.

Stunts include sitting on a stool or kneeling down until the performer and the bull are literally face-to-face and the performing of mid-air cartwheels as the bull passes underneath the airborne youth.

More daring performers stay glued to the spot, swivelling out of the way at the last moment. In a near suicidal move, one performer is used to distract the bull and keep him in charging a straight line, while another jumps on the bull as a gymnast might a hobbyhorse.

The participants wear numbers and are awarded points for style by panel of judges, with the winner being the one, naturally, who accumulates the most points.

This is dangerous. The performers are locked in contest with a bull that has not been weakened through blood loss and whose horns are not lowered.

Strangely however, the amateur nature of recortes ensures that accidents are few and far between.

With no organisation controlling recortes or training participants, the art is perfected in childhood, against young bulls, spontaneously at festivals.

By the time teenagers come to face the larger bulls their reactions are sharp.

Accusation and defence

The most widely known Corrida Vascolandesa takes place during the infamous San Fermin fiesta in Pamplona.

Although many in the Basque Country, Navarra, and indeed, Catalunya, try to distance themselves from ‘the bulls,’ seeing it as a Spanish pastime, there is a surprising history of bullfighting in the Basque Country.

Bilbao even has its own museum dedicated to the art.

Despite this, recortes almost died a death until it was rescued by a public becoming less disposed to the gore of mainstream bullfighting and a youthful attraction to danger. There certainly is not a lot of money in it and the young stars of recortes have yet to become national celebrities on the scale of the popular matadors.

Animal rights activists, in Spain and across Europe, are still not impressed. The League Against Cruel Sports has recently taken up the cause of the bull and sees little difference between standard bullfighting and recortes, saying: “While this is considerably less bloodthirsty, were we are concerned this is still a sport that causes considerable stress and injury to the bull. Therefore we are opposed to it.”

Research suggests that a majority of Spaniards may share their view.

A recent Gallup study revealed that only a quarter of 25-34 year olds had any interest in the corrida.

Yet the crowds watching recortes, particularly in central Spain, are young.

Continues...

So, wherever she is is, she stands corrected.

And by the way, the Basque Country and Navarre are one and the same, just two different ways to call Euskal Herria, the land of the Basques.

~ ~ ~