Sometimes described as more of an art than a sport, bullfighting is a long-standing and dangerous tradition. As Ernest Hemingway wrote in "Death in the Afternoon," "Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death." The origins of bullfighting are unclear but according to Britannica, forms of the sport date back to antiquity. Bullfighting as known today developed on the Iberian peninsula in the Middle Ages.
A traditional bullfight consists of six bulls against three fighters called matadors. The bulls, which can weigh as much as 1,600 pounds, are bred for aggression. First, the bull is weakened by picadores, who lance it. Then, the bull is darted by banderilleros, before the matador enters the ring and dances with the bull using a cape before dispatching it with a sword.
Fighting a large aggressive animal is obviously dangerous, and injuries are frequent. A 10-year study published in Trauma showed that over 9% of all bullfighters required some sort of emergency assistance, most often in the lower extremities where the bull's horns often gore the bullfighter. As for the bulls, NPR reports that a Spanish bullfight almost always ends with the matador killing the bull but that if the bull has behaved particularly well during the fight, it is "pardoned" and its life spared.
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