page_title: Las Ventas
section_title: Structure and facilities
hierarchical_section_title: Las Ventas / Structure and facilities
caption_attribution_description: Español: Fachada de la plaza de toros de Las Ventas con la estatua a homenaje a Antonio Bienvenida en primer plano. La estatua representa al matador de toros saliendo a hombros por la puerta grande. Es obra del escultor Luís A. Sanguino.
context_page_description: The plaza de toros de Las Ventas, known simply as Las Ventas, is the largest bullfighting ring in Spain, located in the Guindalera quarter of the Salamanca district. It was inaugurated on June 17, 1931. Its seating capacity of 23,798, makes it the third-largest bullfighting run the world, adjacent to bullrings in Mexico and Venezuela, respectively.
  This bullring was designed by the architect José Espeliú in the Neo-Mudéjar style with ceramic incrustations. The seats are situated in ten "tendidos". The price of the seats depends upon how close they are to the arena and whether they are in the sun or the shade. The bullfighting season starts in March and ends in October; bullfights are held every day during the San Isidro Fiesta, and every Sunday or holiday during the season. Bullfights start at 6 or 7pm and last for two to three hours.
context_section_description: "Las Ventas" is divided into a ring or arena, and a group of zones called "patios". Its architecture is Neo-Mudéjar, with ceramic representations of the heraldic crests of the different Spanish provinces. The arena has a diameter of 60 meters. The seating capacity is divided into 10 "tendidos" (group of 27 rows around the arena), some of them in the shade and the rest in the sun.
  The president of the 'corrida' sits in the 10th Tendido. The Royal Box is of outstanding design, with its Mudéjar architecture, a complete bathroom and a lift. Opposite to the Royal Box, in the covered grandstand roof, is the clock. The bullring has five gates, plus three more called "toriles", from where the bulls enter the arena. The gate of the "cuadrillas", between "tendidos" 3 and 4, has access to the horse yard. Inside this door, the "paseillo" starts and the "picadores" (those who pierce the bull with the lance) come out from here to the arena ("suerte de varas"). The dragging gate, that leads to the skinning room, is between "tendidos" 1 and 2. The famous "Puerta Grande" (Big Gate), also called the Gate of Madrid, is between "tendidos" 7 and 8. Going out through this door, especially during the Fiesta of San Isidro, is every bullfighter's ambition.
  There are also a chapel and a small infirmary with two operating rooms.
caption: View of the Ne-Mudéjar façade and a neighbouring sculpture.
exif: {"Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2003:05:09 14:31:03", "Image ExifOffset": "92", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1819", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1249"}