re: Running of the Bulls

I'll add to my post to say:

1) The danger here is very real. There was a moment during my run where one of the bulls veered in my direction. It got ~10 feet from me and turned back towards the middle of the street. He he chosen not to do so, I was in a world of trouble because there was nowhere for me to duck into at the point of the street I was in.

This all happened in a matter of a couple of seconds, but remember this moment very clearly. I saw the bull start to head towards me and it was like the street got longer and narrower as he got closer. The sound coming from the bulls' hooves, like gunshots from the cobblestones bouncing off of the buildings, faded away and was replaced by my heartbeat in my head. I was getting ready to go to the ground when he turned back on course and I'll never forget how sharp the horns looked as he passed in front of me. These animals are incredibly impressive up close, and unpredictable. They often stop and turn around in the middle of the route and that is where things can get really dicey.

The danger isn't just from the animals, either. Many times, the biggest issues are caused by people. Someone falls down and it ends up in a massive pileup because there are so many people running together in such a tight space. You have to be aware of your surroundings, where you're stepping, watch what the people around you are doing, and look for the bulls at all times.

2) Unless you really, absolutely want to see it, skip the bullfight. I'm about as far from an animal rights activist as there is and it even made me uncomfortable. I initially believed that bullfighting was just the matador and the bull the whole time, but it's more than that. There are rounds before that of guys whose job it is to stick lances in the bull to sever the muscles in its neck so it can't turn its head as quickly, and to bleed it so it gets tired. By the time the matador comes out the bull is well on its way to bleeding out. The matador does some flamboyant turns, jams a couple of swords into the bulls' spine, and it eventually collapses into a pool of its own blood in the arena. It is then drug out by a team of draft horses before the next bull is sent in to the same fate. The "fight" is essentially just a drawn out, performative way of killing these animals. A lot of times the matador can miss the 'killshot" and the bull will stumble around and struggle, trying to get to its feet. It can be difficult to watch. The last one we saw, the matador actually got gored in the thigh and had to get carried off. I was kind of rooting for the bull at that point.

On the other hand, the entire crowd is wearing white and doing chants and I can easily see why they Spanish enjoy the whole thing so much. The entire spectacle of it is really something. YMMV.