Bullfighting and Tourism

Abstract

Bullfighting is introduced into tourism studies as the iconic example of a class of human–animal relations, involving agonistic animal contests initiated by humans. The article focuses on the most popular form of bullfighting, the corrida, at which a matador, fighting on foot (rather than mounted) kills a bull in an arena in the presence of a mixed domestic and sometimes foreign public. It discusses the polysemic perceptions of the bullfight, its exaltation by its protagonists, and its growing condemnation by animal rights and welfare activists. It argues that foreign tourism initially bolstered the expansion of bullfighting in Spain; but it is an ambivalent tourist attraction, of declining attractiveness in recent times. The article presents a comparison of bullfighting with another touristically ambivalent piercing event, the Chinese Vegetarian Festival in Thailand, and with recreational hunting, with which it shares significant commonalities. It concludes by calling for a systematic study of the range of human-induced agonistic animal contests.