page_title: Spanish-style bullfighting
section_title: Stage 3: Tercio de Muerte
hierarchical_section_title: Spanish-style bullfighting / Parts of a bullfight / Stage 3: Tercio de Muerte
caption_attribution_description: Description: Matador Place&#160;: Plaza de Toros Las Ventas City&#160;: Madrid Country&#160;: Spain Photographer: © Manuel González Olaechea y Franco Shot date&#160;: October, 9th , 2005
context_page_description: Spanish-style bullfighting is a type of bullfighting that is practiced in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, as well as in parts of southern France and Portugal. This style of bullfighting involves a physical contest with humans attempting to publicly subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull. The most common bull used is the Spanish Fighting Bull, a type of cattle native to the Iberian Peninsula. This style of bullfighting is seen to be both a sport and performance art. The red colour of the cape is a matter of tradition – bulls are color blind. They attack moving objects; the brightly-colored cape is used to mask blood stains.
  In a traditional corrida, three toreros each fight against two out of a total of six fighting bulls to death, each bull being at least four years old and weighs up to about 600 kg. Bullfighting season in Spain runs from March to October. The practice is also known as a corrida de toros, tauromaquia, or fiesta. Since the late-1980s, bullfighting in Spain has declined in popularity due to animal welfare concerns, its association with blood sport, and its links to nationalism.
context_section_description: In the third and final stage – the tercio de muerte ("part of death") – the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape or muleta in one hand and a sword (estoc) in the other. This cape is stretched with a wooden dowel and, in right-handed passes, the sword as well. Having dedicated the bull to an individual or the whole audience, the matador uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes, demonstrating their control over it. The red colour of the cape is a matter of tradition – bulls are color blind. As bulls attack moving objects; colored capes are used to mask blood stains.             
  The faena is the entire performance combined with the muleta, which is usually broken down into a series of tandas (episodes). A typical tanda  consists of three to five basic passes and then the finishing touch (remate), such as a pase de pecho, or pase de desprecio. Well-received passes are celebrated by the audience with shouts of "¡ole!". The faena ends with a final series of passes in which the matador with a muleta attempts to manoeuvre the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart. The entire part of the bullfight with the muleta is called the tercio de muerte ("third of death") or suerte de muleta ("act of muleta"). 
  The act of thrusting the sword (estoca or estoque) is called an estocada. A clumsy estocada that fails to give a "quick and clean death" will often raise loud protests from the crowd and may ruin the whole performance. If estocada is not successful, the matador must then perform a descabello and cut the bull's spinal cord with a second sword called verdugo, to kill it instantly and spare the animal pain. Although the matador's final blow is usually fatal, it may take the bull some time to die. A coup de grâce is therefore administered by a peón named a puntillero, using a dagger to further pierce the spinal cord. The matador must kill the bull in 15 minutes after the first muleta pass, at most. After 10 minutes, if the bull is still alive, the presidente will order an aviso, a warning given with a trumpet sound. If a further three minutes elapse, a second aviso will be given; a third and final aviso is given after a further two minutes. The presidente will then give an order to have the bull returned to its pen (corral), or, if local law so requires, to have the bull killed outside the ring. It is a dishonor for the failing matador.
  The bull's body is dragged out by a team of mules. If the presidente is impressed by the performance of the bull, he orders a tour around the ring to honour the animal. Very rarely, a bull will be allowed to survive a fight as an indulgence granted in recognition of an exceptional performance. The spectators will demand an indulto from the presidente, by waving handkerchiefs before the estocada. The matador will stop and look at the presidente. If he stands still, he will resume their action and kill the bull. But if he has an orange handkerchief hung on his balcony, the matador will imitate the estocada with a banderilla or with the palm of his hand and the bull will be "freed". Such bulls are generally retired from competition and raised as studs, as their experience in the ring makes them extremely dangerous opponents. A fighting bull is never used in the ring twice, because they learn from experience, and the entire strategy of the matador is based on the assumption that the bull has not learned from previous experience. This also invalidates bulls who have been run in their estate by illegal fighters (maletillas), who in earlier times would sneak into an estate by night to practice their skills.
  A trofeo (trophy) is the usual indicator of a successful faena. When the records of bullfights are kept, trofeos earned by the matador are always mentioned. If the crowd demands, the matador is allowed to take a lap of victory around the ring. If at least half of the spectators petition the presidente by waving handkerchiefs, the presidente is obliged to award the matador with one ear of the bull. To award the matador with
caption: Matador in the tercio de muerte, 2005.
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