Objective Proficiency p 24. The Last Bullfight.

This is a special essay from Robert Elms, on the issues of heritage, identity and animal rights surrounding bullfighting in Spain.
It was partly a concern for animal rights which led the region's parliament to ban this controversial activity.
Animal rights groups say they want now to get the ban extended right across the country.
But there are still many who don't want to see the end of bullfighting.
La corrida, they say, is a vital part of Spain's cultural heritage, and it should be protected.
Robert Elms considers the questions of identity, history, regional pride and artistic flair which were so much to the fore during Barcelona's last bullfight.


Listen to the programme and fill in the gaps with a word or expression:

Listen to the Audio

1.    Men came with their wives in ______.

2.    There were 20.000 spectators _____________ Barcelona’s bull-ring.

3.    The protesters were outnumbered by the _____________ riot police.

4.    Catalonia was never exactly a ___________ of bullfighting.

5.    It was politics which actually put __________ Barcelona's bull-ring.

6.    The whole event was ___________ with cries of "Viva la fiesta"

7.    The matador __________ the golden dust and kissed it with elaborate passion.

8.    The three matadors were given a tumultuous ________________

9.    For a while, the chanting ____________and a small demonstration looked like it might turn ugly.

10. What would Lorca make of a world so modern that it had no place for such a __________but potent ritual.

Key:

1.    Tow
In tow: if you have somebody in tow, they are with you and following closely behind. She turned up with her mother in tow.

2.    Packed into
Pack into something: to go somewhere in large numbers so that all available space is filled. E.g. Over 80000 fans packed into the stadium to watch the final.

3.    Stern-looking
Stern: serious and often disapproving;  expecting somebody to obey you. Strict. E.g. a stern face/expression/look.

4.    hotbed 
Hotbed of something: a place where a lot of a particular activity, especially something bad or violent, is happening. E.g. The area was a hotbed of crime.

5.    paid to
 Put paid to something: (informal) to stop or destroy something, especially what somebody plans or wants to do. E.g Denmark’s victory put paid to our hopes of qualifying.

6.    interspersed

Be interspersed with/in something: / ˌɪntəˈspɜːs / to put something in something else or among or between other things. Sp. Intercalar. E.g. Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. Interspersed in the narrative are the personal stories of several important women architects.


7.    cupped

Cup: cup something (in your hands) to hold something, making your hands into a round shape. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.


8.    lap of honour

Tumultuous: / tjuːˈmʌltʃuəs/ very loud; involving strong feelings, especially feelings of approval. Sp. Apoteósico. E.g. Tumultuous applause. A tumultuous reception/welcome. 

To do a lap of honour (= go around the track again to celebrate winning)


9.    swelled

Swell, swelled, swollen:1. to become bigger or rounder. E.g. Her arm was beginning to swell up where the bee had stung her. 2. to become louder. Sp. Aumentar.E.g. The cheering swelled through the hall


10. visceral

Visceral: /ˈvɪs(ə)r(ə)l/ relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect. E.g. the voters' visceral fear of change

Transcript:

They came from all over - serious men from Seville and Madrid filling trains and planes with their fine suits and Havana cigars, their tanned and buffed consorts in tow.

The flamboyant French had poured down over the border to celebrate "Los Toros" with extravagant “oles” and elegant wines.

Studious Americans, wealthy Mexicans, Basques and Swedes - even the sole Japanese torero, El Niño del Sol Naciente (the son of the rising sun), was among those who had managed to secure the scorching-hot tickets for the big show in town.

The last show in town - ever.

I did not spot any other Englishmen among the 20,000 aficionados packed into the Monumental, Barcelona's beautiful Art Nouveau bull-ring but outside, I suspect, there was at least one fellow countryman among the surprisingly small but jubilantly vocal group of antitaurinos who had gathered opposite the ring.

He held up a sign which read in English "Never again" and gave a uniquely English hand gesture to the few bullfight fans who bothered to argue with the 50 or so "antis", who were outnumbered by the stern-looking riot police who surrounded them.

Theirs was not so much a demonstration as a celebration of victory, their job done a year ago when the Catalan parliament voted to ban the corrida throughout the province which was never exactly a hotbed of taurine activity, but had seen regular fights in the Barcelona plaza for 97 years.

The animal rights view - enshrined in the chanted slogan "La tortura no es cultura" (torture is not culture) - is undoubtedly held by many Catalans, and the ring has been in slow decline, as a young generation of funky, very "European" Barcelonans turned their backs on the bulls.

But it was the complex politics of Iberian separatism which actually put paid to Barcelona's bull-ring.

Snubbing "Spain" and distancing Catalonia by outlawing such a vividly "Spanish" tradition was the real motive for many of the nationalist politicians who took that historic vote.

And there was certainly a heightened sense of history and emotion among the crowds who watched the three matadors dance with and then dispatch six bulls in the time-honoured fashion.

The whole event was interspersed with cries of "Viva la fiesta" and even the provocative "Viva España" from the stands, many of which were draped in banners and flags.

Among them one which simply said "Continuará" (it will continue).

With great significance, the final matador to perform was Serafin Marin, the only Catalan to currently wear the suit of lights, and a young man who was visibly shaken throughout the evening.

After an expert sword at "la hora de verdad" (the moment of truth), he bowed and then prostrated himself on the sand, sobbing. He cupped the golden dust and kissed it with elaborate passion, a baroque gesture somehow fitting such an impassioned evening.

All three matadors were then raised onto the shoulders of the fans who swarmed the arena, and given a tumultuous lap of honour accompanied by the ritual chanting of "Torero, torero".

But then somehow the chant morphed into "Libertad, libertad" and continued as the matadors were carried into the packed streets outside.

For a while, the chanting swelled and a small demonstration looked like it might turn ugly, but it soon dissipated into the warm, late September evening, as the thousands of aficionados retired to bars and restaurants to discuss the significance of the events.

Most were not even from here and so they knew that they could continue their passion in their own, more pro-taurine towns further south.

The local fans were obviously more upset but even they could not deny that Barcelona had fallen out of love with the bulls and the vast majority would not miss it.

I personally thought of the poet Lorca who had called the corrida "the last serious thing in the modern world".

And I wondered what he would make of a world so modern that it had no place for such a visceral but potent ritual.

Adapted from BBC News Magazine

Vocabulary:

• Buff something (up): to polish something with a soft cloth. E.g. She buffed up the brass with a cloth.
• Consort: the husband or wife of a ruler. E.g. the prince consort (= the queen's husband)
• In tow: if you have somebody in tow, they are with you and following closely behind. She turned up with her mother in tow.
• Sole: only; single. E.g. the sole surviving member of the family.
• Hot: new, exciting and very popular. E.g. This is one of the hottest clubs in town.They are one of this year's hot new bands.The couple are Hollywood's hottest property.
• Pack into something: to go somewhere in large numbers so that all available space is filled. E.g. Over 80000 fans packed into the stadium to watch the final.
• Jubilant: feeling or showing great happiness because of a success. E.g. The fans were in jubilant mood after the victory. Adv. Jubilantly
• Stern: serious and often disapproving;  expecting somebody to obey you. Strict. E.g. a stern face/expression/look.
• Hotbed of something: a place where a lot of a particular activity, especially something bad or violent, is happening. E.g. The area was a hotbed of crime.
• Enshrine something (in something): (formal) to make a law, right, etc. respected or official, especially by stating it in an important written document. Sp. Consagrar. E.g. These rights are enshrined in the country's constitution. November 4, 2008 is already enshrined as a key date in American history.
• Chant: to sing or shout the same words or phrases many times. E.g. A group of protesters, chanting and carrying placards, waited outside.
• Funky: fashionable and unusual. E.g. She wears really funky clothes.

• Turn your back on somebody/something: to reject somebody/something that you have previously been connected with. E.g. She turned her back on them when they needed her. Some newspapers have turned their backs on discussion and argument.

• Put paid to something: (informal) to stop or destroy something, especially what somebody plans or wants to do
• Snub: to insult somebody, especially by ignoring them when you meet. Cold-shoulder. E.g. I tried to be friendly, but she snubbed me completely.
• Heighten: if a feeling or an effect heightens, or something heightens it, it becomes stronger or increases. Intensify. E.g. Tension has heightened after the recent bomb attack.
• Dispatch somebody/something: to deal or finish with somebody/something quickly and completely.  (old-fashioned) to kill a person or an animal. E.g. He dispatched the younger player in straight sets.
• Time-honoured: respected because it has been used or done for a long time. E.g. They showed their approval in the time-honoured way (= by clapping, for example).
• Be interspersed with/in something: / ˌɪntəˈspɜːs / to put something in something else or among or between other things. Sp. Intercalar. E.g. Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. Interspersed in the narrative are the personal stories of several important women architects.
• Drape /dreɪp/ something around/over/across, etc. something: to hang clothes, materials, etc. loosely on somebody/something. Sp. Cubrir. E.g. She had a shawl draped around her shoulders.He draped his coat over the back of the chair. She draped a cover over the old sofa.
• Banner: a long piece of cloth with a message on it that is carried between two poles or hung in a public place to show support for something. Sp. Pancarta. E.g.  A huge banner over the street said ‘Welcome home’.
• Shaken: shocked, upset or frightened by something. Sp. Conmocionado. E.g. She was visibly shaken by the incidents. He was too shaken up to drive
• Sob: cry noisily, taking sudden, sharp breaths. E.g. I heard a child sobbing loudly.
• Cup: cup something (in your hands) to hold something, making your hands into a round shape. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.
• Impassioned: /ɪmˈpæʃnd/ showing strong feelings about something. E.g. an impassioned plea/speech/defence
• Swarm: /swɔːm/ to move around in a large group. E.g. Tourists were swarming all over the island.
• Tumultuous: / tjuːˈmʌltʃuəs/ very loud; involving strong feelings, especially feelings of approval. Sp. Apoteósico. E.g. Tumultuous applause. A tumultuous reception/welcome.
• To do a lap of honour (= go around the track again to celebrate winning)
• Morph (somebody/something) (into somebody/something): to change, or make somebody/something change into something different
• Swell, swelled, swollen:1. to become bigger or rounder. E.g. Her arm was beginning to swell up where the bee had stung her. 2. to become louder. Sp. Aumentar.E.g. The cheering swelled through the hall
• Dissipate: to gradually become or make something become weaker until it disappears. E.g. Eventually, his anger dissipated

Related stories:

• Bullfighting in Barcelona ends with Catalonia ban   

• BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Spain reports.

• Last bullfight in Barcelona

• Death of the bullfight

• Robert Elms: End bullfighting and you give in to the neutering forces of accepted taste

Finally  you can watch these videos on the playlist below: