| Culture
& Entertainment |
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Splendour, gaiety and the imagination
of the nation as a whole are the basic features of the Spanish fiesta.
The year's festive highlights turn the public into active participants
and passive spectators who are nevertheless aware of being both things
at once.
Fiestas, a phenomenon that gives expression to a peculiarly Spanish
vitality, take place almost uninterruptedly in different places and
at different times of the year, so that the traveller will always
find an occasion to witness one of these magical, spectacular happenings
that alter the daily routine of Spanish society.
Bullfighting
 Bullfighting
is certainly one of the best known, although at the same time most
polemical Spanish popular customs. This Fiesta could not exist without
the Toro Bravo, a species of bull of an
archaic race that is only conserved in Spain.
The origins of the Plaza, bullring
, probably are not the Roman amphitheaters but the Celt-Iberian temples
where those ceremonies were held.
For its fans La Corrida is of course rather
an art than a sport, not to speak about the challenge of the man fighting
against the beast. It is an archaic tradition that has survived in
this country, just as the Toro Bravo has done.
 A
Corrida starts with the paseillo, with
everybody involved in the bullfight entering the ring and presenting
themselves to the public. Two Alguacilillos,
on horse's back, direct themselves to the presidency and symbolically
ask for the keys to the
"puerta de
los toriles".
Behind that door there are the bulls.
With the door being opened and the first bull entering the ring the
spectacle starts. It consists of three parts, called tercios,
being separated by horn-signals. There are three toreros
in each Corrida, by the way, and each will have to torear
two bulls.
In the first tercio the bullfighter uses
the capote, a quite large rag of purple
and yellow color. Now enter two picadores,
on horse's back and armed with a sort of lance. The second part is
la suerte de banderillas. Three banderilleros
have to stick a pair of banderillas into the attacking bull's back.
In the final "suerte suprema"
the bullfighter uses the muleta,
a small red rag. He has to show his faena,
his mastery to dominate the bull, and to establish an artistic symbiosis
between man and beast. The Corrida ends with the torero killing the
bull by his sword.
Flamenco
 Flamenco
is without doubt one of Spain's great contributions to the musical
art form. While its roots are in the gypsy culture of Andalusia, and
the bulk of the important Flamenco artists are still of Gypsy decent,
it is receiving more and more international attention.
'True' flamenco is an art form, which can happen spontaneously whenever
a group of people gathers, and in which the audience forms an integral
part of the performance.
Calendar
of cultural events:
Website: www.tourspain.es |
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