La Feria de Quito, Jesus del Gran Poder

La Feria de Quito, the most prestigious and largest festival of its kind in the world, is Quito’s celebration of its founding as the capital of Ecuador. Running from November 30th until December 6th, the festival attracts tourists from as far away as Mexico, Colombia, Spain and France. Highlighting the week-long celebration are daily corridas de toros, or bullfights, in Quito’s plaza de toros (bullring) where, as Pablo Salazar, owner of the bullring, explains, the Quitenos put aside their everyday problems to become bullfight aficionados.

The bullfights feature famous bullfighters from Spain, who join with Ecuador’s bullfighters for a full week of bullfights. Although many people oppose bullfighting, calling it cruel and inhumane, aficionados defend it as an art and tradition of the Hispanic culture.

Corridas de toros are broken up into five phases. They begin with the Grand Entry, as all the toreros (bullfighters) and their assistants enter the bullring, dressed in resplendent trajes de luces (suits of lights). Then, the first of six bulls enters the ring as bugles and drums play music to heighten the crowd’s excitement. The bull is taken through a brief test to make sure it has no vision or physical problems. If the bull’s character is acceptable and deemed worthy by the bullfight president, the picador enters the ring on horseback to lance the bull between the shoulders to weaken its extremely strong muscles. Next, the banderillas run at the bull and pin colorful sticks into its neck.

The last phase is called la suerta de la muerta, when the matador asks the president for permission to kill the bull. The president gives permission if the bullfighter has proven himself worthy. With the muleta (red cape and sword) in hand, the bullfighter makes graceful passes to tire the bull and cause him to lower his head. When the bull’s head is low to the ground the bullfighter has a clear shot through the shoulder blades into the heart of the bull. If the matador has shown great skill, the president may allow the bullfighter to keep one or two of the bull’s ears, or, if his performance has been particularly impressive, its tail.