Zaragoza: the capital of popular bullfighting
The bullfighting Zaragoza is much more than the bullfights at 5.30 pm. The Aragonese capital offers many other options for leisure around the festivities of El Pilar, a few days where enjoyment takes over the streets from the day of the opening speech to the fireworks that close the Fair ten days later.
It’s customary for people to gather in the old part of the city, eat and enjoy themselves until late at night, and so on day after day. And it’s usually a tradition that the day begins (or ends, depending on the age) in one of the emblematic buildings of the city and one of the landmarks during the festivities: The bullring of La Misericordia.
The Pignatelli bullring, as it’s also known in honor of the architect who designed it, where to four daily bullfighting events will take place. Yes, you read that right. From the morning “vaquillas” show to the popular night shows. At 8:00 a.m. the first event of the day begins. The Young fans, the tent where the bullfighting commissions are hosted and where the general public has access until full capacity is reached, arrive at the Zaragoza bullring as the end of the celebration to enjoy the “vaquillas” event.
With an ticket price of 11 €, each morning a different cattle ranch is the protagonist of the event. The bravest fans demonstrate their courage in the bullring of La Misericordia, while the rest of the public watches from their seats. The hot chocolate is ideal for watching a popular show that usually generates excitement and laughter.
On the mornings of October 12 and 15, at 11.30 a.m., the “recortes” and rings contests will take place respectively. The first of them is characterized by the seriousness and the entity of the selected cattle, while the contest of rings is a different modality, which is very popular in the towns of the Ribera del Ebro. It’s participated in pairs and the winner is the one that manages to introduce more rings in the horns of each animal during the established time.
Another typical contest is that of the “roscaderos”, a rudimentary contraption, bell-shaped, that the ranchers used in the countryside to measure the bravery of the bulls. The idea is to provoke the animals to charge while a group of young men hold the “roscadero” and fight to get the bull’s head into it. This peculiar contest is scheduled for Wednesday 11 at 11:00 p.m.
At the same time, but on Saturday the 14th, there will be a “recortes” contest, but with bulls of fire, a variant of the conventional show, in which the light and the risk generated by the flames are added to the charge of the bulls. The night before, on Friday the 13th, it’s the turn of the “emboladores” and the exhibition of Arriazu bulls, probably the most important cattle ranch in the area, famous for the explosiveness of its bulls.
These popular shows are the perfect complement to the religious events, with the offering of flowers to the Virgin as the main event, and the concerts in the El Pilar and Valdespartera squares, the best place to conclude each night, between October 6 and 14, intense festivities, where joy is the most important thing in an endearing area of Spain and suitable for all people of all ages and conditions.
