Culture | Bad sport?

Bullfighting is under attack

It reveals a lot about politics and attitudes towards Spain

An anti-bullfighting protestor holds a sign in front of riot police during a protest against bullfights outside the Monumental Plaza de Toros Mexico in Mexico City.
She’s got beef with itPhotograph: Getty Images
|Madrid and Mexico City

BOCINERO, half a tonne and dull black, impressed the crowd more than the two bulls who had come and died before him. He hooked his left horn under the right leg of Tomás Rufo, the matador, who landed nearby. The bull pressed his advantage, rolling Mr Rufo several times before other toreros jumped in to distract him. Mr Rufo was soon up limping, shaking off his pain, and before long Bocinero fell under his sword. He died within a minute. (To your correspondent it felt like a very long minute.)

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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Bad sport?”

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