April 8, 2015
The bullring of El Puerto de Santa Maria was opened in 1880 and it holds 12,000 spectators. The diameter of the ring is 327 feet which is the largest in the world. A bullring in Mexico holds the most spectators. The building is a regular polygon of 60 sides. At the time of its construction, it was rare for a bullring in a small town to be made of brick. Typically the bullrings were made of wood. After a while these wooden rings would be burned to the ground and the site abandoned leaving it available for other construction. The inner workings of the ring are not only the spectator seats. There are special box seats for when the royalty are present and also for the judge of the fight. Also in the structure are the pens for the bulls and stables for the horses. The areas for the bulls all have an upper catwalk so that the various doors can be opened from above. Immediately before the matador enters the ring is a little ‘capilla’ so that he can say a quick prayer before facing the bull. There is also an ‘enfermeria’ in the event of the bull achieving its goal of hitting the matador. While we were there, the training was going on with younger kids training to be a novillero. This is a bullfighter that is only allowed to fight a bull younger than 4 years old. With more experience, they can reach the prestigious level of matador.
The bullring of El Puerto de Santa Maria was opened in 1880 and it holds 12,000 spectators. The diameter of the ring is 327 feet which is the largest in the world. A bullring in Mexico holds the most spectators. The building is a regular polygon of 60 sides. At the time of its construction, it was rare for a bullring in a small town to be made of brick. Typically the bullrings were made of wood. After a while these wooden rings would be burned to the ground and the site abandoned leaving it available for other construction. The inner workings of the ring are not only the spectator seats. There are special box seats for when the royalty are present and also for the judge of the fight. Also in the structure are the pens for the bulls and stables for the horses. The areas for the bulls all have an upper catwalk so that the various doors can be opened from above. Immediately before the matador enters the ring is a little ‘capilla’ so that he can say a quick prayer before facing the bull. There is also an ‘enfermeria’ in the event of the bull achieving its goal of hitting the matador. While we were there, the training was going on with younger kids training to be a novillero. This is a bullfighter that is only allowed to fight a bull younger than 4 years old. With more experience, they can reach the prestigious level of matador.
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