¡Ole!

As I stepped out of the metro at Las Ventas today, the first thing I saw was a dramatic bronze sculpture of a man flying through the air with desperate peasants below in nineteen century clothes, raising their hands as if to beseech a higher power. Immediately I thought: “… Your tired, your hungry, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …”. This must be a monument to some great political struggle in Spain’s history. Or maybe it's an ascension to heaven and the faithful are awe-filled with wonder.

As I got closer, I saw that it was a matador being tossed in the air by a bull, and I was in front of the Plaza de Toros, the main bullring stadium in Madrid. This is hallowed ground in España. Okay, I get the bull and matador, but what were the dramatic peasants about? And the back of the monument has an angel sobbing over a matador’s uniform, lying on a chair. He was apparently so bereft that he forgot to put his pants on. As crazy as American fervor for sports can be, I can't say that I've ever seen anything close to this kind of melodrama. Okay Spain, you win.

In 1985, Madrid’s favorite matador, José Cubero lost his life while attempting to defeat a bull in the Plaza de Toros. He quickly rose to the near-level of sainthood, and this over-the-top monument was erected in his honor. The only thing it lacks is the hand of God reaching down to José in his final moment. I had to walk around it several times to take in all the discordant details. Across the plaza there was another dramatic sculpture of a crowd of men carrying a victorious matador on their shoulders. It wasn't a depiction of exhuberant celebration; it had more the ethereal feel of a noble march, as if they were virtuously storming the Bastille or righting some terrible injustice. These people have pasión.

Finally completed in 1931, the Plaza de Toros is a magnificent structure. It replaced an earlier bullring which had grown too small for the growing number of bullfight enthusiasts in Madrid. It is now a national shrine. When I asked Hector if it was the most important bullfighting stadium in Spain, he held up his finger and said: “No. In-a the world”. Hmm, I tucked that raw little nerve away in my brain to Google later, and found out there are two larger ones in Latin America. But certainly this is the most prestigeous one in the world … and that’s what really counts. So there, Mexico! Unfortunately bullfighting season doesn’t start until after I leave Spain. After seeing the Plaza de Toros, I’d really like to go see the spectacle there sometime. ¡Ole!