The Feria de Quito, Ecuador’s most prestigious bullfighting event, commands the attention of curious spectators, avid fans and animal rights activists alike.  With fifty-four bulls fought to the death over nine days, the festival is also at the centre of a battle of ethics in Ecuador, posing the question: is bullfighting a legitimate cultural tradition or merely a gory blood-sport?

History

The Feria de Quito is an iconic and up-market feature of Las Fiestas de Quito, which fervently celebrate the founding of the city each December.  Quito’s Plaza del Toros buzzes with a status-conscious and sociable atmosphere as the city’s best-dressed step out in style, complete with sombreros and high heels for a day at the bullfights.

¨There’s a great vibe and beautiful women everywhere¨, says Kiron Suarez, an Australian traveler seeking a unique cultural experience at the bullring. 

Alongside the fashionistas, a youthful crowd wave banners and chant rhymes outside the Plaza.  They too are making a statement: that bullfighting should be banned in Ecuador. 

Culture and tradition are commonly cited as reasons why people enjoy bullfighting in Ecuador, explains 24 year-old protester, Joan Correa - ¨but it’s a Spanish, not Ecuadorian tradition¨. 

¨People don’t follow other Spanish traditions here so why do we celebrate the unnecessary killing of animals in the name of culture? ¨

The answer lies in marketing, according to Fernando Arroyo of Cero Violencia, an animal rights organization aimed at overcoming the culture of bullfighting in Ecuador - ¨Marketing focuses on the bullfighters and presents them as brave, skilful masters of their art¨. 

Popular affair

The Feria de Quito is presented as a classy event, it attracts celebrities and the wealthy and people get caught up in the festive atmosphere so they don’t necessarily register the reality of what is happening in front of them, says Fernando.

¨Yet the bull is attacked with instruments of torture, whether it is being killed elegantly or artistically is irrelevant, it suffers.¨ 

War and confrontation have defined human history and bullfighting calls on what some say is an inherent, primal instinct to conquer, explains one spectator.  It is a battle of strength and the thrill of the fight lies in the potential of the bull getting the better of its opponent.

¨I think people like it for the same reasons as they enjoy boxing, action films or roller-coasters; it’s exciting and unpredictable, it gets your adrenaline going¨, says Kiron.

Is it fair?

Yet bullfighting is not necessarily an equal confrontation.  According to Cero Violencia, bulls suffer both psychologically and physically for the sport.

After being taken from the countryside, a bull is confined in a series of increasingly small quarters for two days prior to fighting.  Once at the Plaza del Toros the door to the bullring is opened and the bull dashes toward the light at the end of a darkened corridor.  The energetic and aggressive run of the bull into the stadium is thus not a sign of strength and readiness to fight but a testament to the determination to escape, says Fernando.

The bullfight consists of three phases in which the bull is confronted by numerous bullfighters.  In the first phase Rejoneadores on horseback set out to cut the back of the bull’s neck.

¨The horses are blindfolded so they can’t see the bull coming for them.  One girl behind us freaked out and screamed ´ah, the poor animal! ´ about the horse, it was a little contradictory¨, says Kiron.

Hooks are used to further wound the bull and keep it bleeding in the second phase.  Finally, the chief bullfighter, the Matador enters the ring and finishes the fight with a sword through the heart. 

¨Toward the end it was gross and you knew the bull had no chance but it took stabbing it about eight times in the neck to kill it¨, Kiron recounts.

The process is brutal but, as one spectator points out, the bull does have a chance to defeat its opponent, a greater opportunity than is afforded to animals raised for meat.  The Feria de Quito is a staple feature of the Fiestas de Quito and, regardless of its origin; bullfighting is a long-honored tradition in Ecuador. 

As one of only eight countries worldwide promoting bullfighting, Fernando is dubious of the suggestion that banning the sport would leave a gaping hole in the culture of Ecuador - ¨but to simply ban it is pointless if people don’t understand why, there has to be a shift in thinking and that comes through spreading the message about the reality of bullfighting for the animals involved¨.