In the Spanish heartlands,fans and protesters present a portrait of a tradition under threat“Long Live the Virgin of El Roco!” Not the first words that would occur to me if I were the recipient of a 25cm abdominal goring that reached my spine – one of the many reasons I’m unlikely to ever maintain a successful career as a matador.
The last words uttered by Francisco Rivera before receiving medical treatment this August for a potentially fatal injury not only revealed that bullfighting remains inextricably linked with devout iconography, they also illustrated that the ability to face death in both theatrical and stoical terms is crucial to its allure and romance.
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Source: theguardian.com