Costa Rica Bullfights a far cry from Hemmingway’s "Death in the Afternoon"

Bull fights are popular in Costa Rica.  But as a country of peace, Costa Rica has a slightly different slant on bull fighting – called “Toros a la Tica” (bullfighting the Tico way). In Costa Rica, the bull is not killed.  In some bull fights, like in Nuevo Arenal, the bull fight more closely resembles a rodeo in the United States, or at least the bull riding portion.  In other towns, it is more like the running of the bulls in Spain.  

Many bull fights occur during a city’s fair, which occur most often between January and April.  Most large and middle size towns have a permanent bullring called a rondel.  Some towns will erect a temporary one just for their fair.

Another major difference is that in a traditional bull fight, professional toreros execute various formal moves with the intent, during various phases of the fight, of distracting, angering, or causing injury to the bull itself.  In Costa Rica, the toreros are amateurs or “improvisados” normally young men. In the Nuevo Arenal bullfight, they line up to draw the number of the bull that they will ride. There is pomp and ceremony to the performance. Young women attend dressed in high heels and sexy clothes and sit in the stands to cheer for their boyfriends.  Families with children also will be present.  One of my friends, Allison Spencer, expressed it succinctly, “Bull "fights" here are more like an exhibition of young men thinking they're invincible and a bull KNOWING he is”.

New rules require that the toreros are sober, but many question why a sober person would participate in this event.  Even so, “bull fighting” can be dangerous. There are medics standing by to treat toreros or bystanders who are hurt.  Occasionally, there may be a death.  The bull in the bull fights, almost always is the winner, chasing men up on the rungs of the wall that circle the ring.

The largest bull fight in the country is in Zapote during the Christmas holidays.  The Puntareans Festival is also large and occurs in February.  Other large fairs are the ones in Palmares, near San José which is normally held in January and the one in Limon on the Caribbean coast.

___________________________________________________________________

I love to hear from my readers. Let me know about your favorite place in Costa Rica.  My e-mail address is LynnFarris@ymail.com