(Spanish, corrida de toros; literally, “the running of the bulls”), Spanish national spectacle, the origin of which is associated with the ancient cult of the bull on the Iberian peninsula.
Duels with bulls were prevalent in Spain as early as the 11th century. In the Middle Ages, only nobles on horseback, armed with spears, participated in bullfights. The bullfight assumed its contemporary form of a circus spectacle with professional performers—the toreros—in the early 18th century. The group of participants in the bullfight consists of 12 to 14 people. The main figure is the matador (espada), who kills the bull with a deft thrust of the sword in the withers. Other toreros assist the matador. Some tease the bull with bright capes; others (the mounted picadors) irritate the bull with lances; and others plunge small, irritating harpoons (banderillas) into the animal’s neck. Bullfights are held in Portugal, southern France, and Latin American countries (since the 16th century, after European colonization), as well as in Spain.