HISTORICAL DICTIONARY A–Z - Spain and Portugal: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 117

Matador Emilio Redondo holds his cape before an injured bull, which has been stabbed several times. (Library of
Congress)

mal success due to the degradation of the
breeding stock and the disappearance of
many training academies. The bulls, aficio-
nados complained, had become lethargic
and timid, while the toreros were often
clumsy youths unworthy of the name.
There were, to be sure, some notable bull-
fighters during this period, and foreign
authors such as Ernest Hemingway perpet-
uated the idea of the bullfight as an almost
spiritual exercise.
During the last quarter of the 20th cen-
tury democratic Spain experienced a sur-
prising revival of what had seemed a
doomed institution. Animal-rights crusad-
ers were disappointed to see the revival of

public enthusiasm for this iconic tradition.
Aficionados were delighted by the develop-
ment of new “brave” bloodlines in the
breeding farms, and they have been
impressed by the quality of a new genera-
tion of toreros. These young bullfighters,
including the occasional woman and for-
eigner in their ranks, were attracted to the
burgeoning new training schools and to the
glamour associated with the glittering “suit
of lights” that is the highly ornamented
outfit of the torero. The vast bullring of
M ADRID is merely the most impressive of
the plazas de toro to be found in every major
Spanish town. Substantial crowds gather as
they did in generations gone by during each