Matadors and Mama terra

The third day in Sevilla came bright and early and this time we hit the ground running.  After a shot of tea, we were off. 

Our first task was procuring train tickets for the next day’s commute to Cordoba.  [We had major problems the night before because apparently US credit cards don’t work on the rail system’s website]

Wandering to the office was slightly embarrassing.  We were definitely those dorky tourists with the map out walking in circles.  We found it though!  Buying the tickets took two seconds in person (I highly recommend this to future Americans taking the train to other parts of Spain). 

Next stop, vegan pastries!!

If you read my previous post about Veganitessen, you know how enamored I was with this place. 

After a cupcake, muffin, and mousse for breakfast, we were ready to head to the next site on the agenda. 

We strolled along the river as we made our way to Sevilla’s bullring.

I had mixed feelings about going to a bull fighting ring (granted we were only going for a tour and not an actual event).  But I still felt weird about going and I didn’t know how I was going to handle it as we made our way to the arena.

Obviously I’m not Spanish, so I could never fully understand the significance of bull fighting from a cultural standpoint.  It’s clearly more than just a sport for the country and historically speaking, it’s something that defines Spain (although it has since been outlawed in Barcelona). 

That said, it’s still killing an animal for entertainment purposes.  Because it makes me feel a little sick, I know I could never attend a live fight myself.

A tour, however, was a cruelty free option to get a sense of Spain’s pastime.

La Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla is the oldest bullring in Spain. 

It’s where the annual Feria de Abril in Sevilla is held (one of the most well-known bullfighting festivals in the world). 

Within the arena, there’s a museum with tons of art depicting various fights.  There are also capes, lances, and other garb from some famous matadors, and mounted heads from famous bulls. 

I actually learned a ton about the rules of bullfighting and what makes a matador more skilled and favored and what constitutes a “good” fight. 

There are several different styles of fighting, but in traditional Spanish bullfighting, the event has three toreros (they’re really only called matadors in English) who fight two toros (bulls).  Each matador has six assistants – two picadores ("lancers on horseback"), three banderilleros ("bullfighters"), and a mozo de espadas ("sword page").

Are you ready for a brief history lesson?  Ok. 

There are 3 stages to each fight:

1. The tercio de varas – the matador first confronts the bull, but really the poor picador does all the hard work.  The picadors are on horseback with lances and their only job is to weaken the bull for the torero.  Seems kinda lame that he has the hard job and the torero gets all the glory, but whatever.  Actually, the horse is the one with the really sh!tty role in the whole affair.  They get armor, but still. 

If the picador is successful in where he stabs the bull, it’s head and horns hang lower during the following stages of the fight (which enables the matador to perform the killing thrust later on).

2. The tercio de banderillas – the three sidekicks try to shove sharp barbed sticks into the bull’s shoulders.  Obviously, this just further weakens the bull who has already been stabbed in the first stage.

3. The tercio de muerte – the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape (la muleta) and a sword.  FYI, bulls are actually colorblind so the color of the cape isn’t to enrage him, as commonly believed.  Who knows. 

The torero uses the cape to attract the bull in a series of passes, which serve the dual purpose of wearing the animal down for the kill and producing a show for the spectators.

The closer the cape to his body, the better a matador he is considered.  The faena is the entire performance with the muleta and ends with a final series of passes in which the matador maneuvers the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the heart. 

The more instant the death (and “less suffering” the animal does, the better the torero is considered to be).  I’m using quotations because it seems ridiculous to consider the animal’s suffering on a gradient. 

I can’t deny how beautiful the arena is though. 

We saw where the bulls are kept before the event (nobody is allowed in from the time they arrive until it’s show time).  We saw where the horses are kept.  And we saw where they proceed into the arena.

This box is for royalty viewing only.

 

After taking a tour of the arena, and learning everything, I know for sure I could never ever watch such a gruesome act, as artistic as it may be. 

For lunch we wandered back towards the center of town and saw a place that looked veg-friendly called Mama Terra. 

Once the menu confirmed this, we went in and took a seat.

They had tofu burgers, veggie burgers, falafel, salads, etc. 

They even had a fresh juice bar!

Thank you mama!

I got the mama tofu burger, which was basically a veggie burger. 

And adding in the veggies turned it into a decent vegetarian meal!  The rice on the side was okay, but beggars can’t be choosers.  Not that I was a beggar…but as a vegan in Spain, I certainly wasn’t dealing with an excess of options. 

The rest of the fam got kebabs.

It was great to have vegetarian options in a restaurant that wasn’t exclusively vegetarian or vegan.

I never went downstairs, but the buffet sounds like it could’ve been right up my alley too. 

For vegans visiting Sevilla, Mama Terra is a good casual dining option if you’re eating with others who aren’t vegan/vegetarian.  It’s very affordable, and just off the main street paralleling the river (3 Paseo de Cristina).

Bull fights – yeah or nay?