Bullfighting, or corrida de toros (“running of bulls”) is a spectacle and sport in Spain wherein a bull is fought and usually killed by a bullfighter (matador) in a sand arena. We don’t know its exact origins, but archaeological findings show evidence of some form of bullfighting in Minoan and ancient Roman cultures. When the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by the Visigoths in the 5th century, the new rulers continued and modified the sport. The Visigoths were conquered by the Moors in the 8th century, and bullfighting became a tournament between Moorish chieftains and Christian Iberian knights. Even after the Moors were defeated, bullfighting continued to be the favourite sport of the aristocracy. For 600 years, nobles fought bulls on horse mount. When the aristocracy abandoned bullfighting, the masses took it up, getting rid of the horse and fighting the bulls on foot. It attracted spectators from all walks of life and bullfighting became an important part of Spanish festivals and community life. Bullfighting became professionalised and commercialised in the 18th century. Both sides fighting during the Spanish Civil War even organised bullfights to raise funds. Sevilla-born Joaquín Rodríguez Costillares is said to be the father of modern bullfighting in Spain, credited with inventing the many aspects of bullfighting we still associate with the spectacle to this day: the elaborate costume of the matador, the cape, and killing the bull by transfixing it with the cape and plunging a knife between the bull’s shoulder blades. The Seville bullfighting festival, one of the most well-known in the world, is held during the Feria de Abril de Sevilla (Seville April Fair) and begins two weeks after Easter. The bullring of the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla is the site of these bullfights. Bullfighting has entered public debate in recent years, with defenders saying it remains part of Spain’s national fabric, and objectors saying it is a form of animal cruelty. In 2019, it also became highly politicised, with Spain’s far-right party Vox supporting bullfighting as a “defence of traditional moral values“.