Bullfighting Tourism – Visit Spain’s bull-breeding ranches

Visits to Spain’s bull-breeding ranches

Bull-breeding ranches

Each bullfighting region has its own charm. Specific climatic conditions, topography, and bull-breeding of esteemed breeds have made Salamanca and Andalusia two of the most respected regions in this sector.

Salamanca’s traditional charrostyle and its rural, Castilian bullfights are an experience in solemnity, purity, and the importance of keeping a very upright posture when fighting in the bullring; a true embodiment of great elegance.

Salamanca is also home to a breed of white-hoofed bulls. The last strongholds of this breed – which, in 2014, celebrated its centenary – are the Barcial ranch (run by Jesús Sánchez Cobaleda, with meadows in San Pedro de Rozados and Beleña, Salamanca); the Francisco Galache ranch (in Villavieja and Martín de Yeltes (Salamanca); and the Monteviejo ranch (where these esteemed bulls are bred and raised by Victorino Martín in Moraleja, Cáceres).

In 2014, José Vega – a breeder of bulls in El Escorial (Madrid) – decided to sell his livestock to the Villar brothers in Zamora. The animals were a cross-breed of Vazqueña (Duke of Veragua) and Vistahermosa (Count of Santa Coloma), and gave rise to the Vega-Villar breed, whose oft distinguishing feature tends to be white hooves.

Andalusia is the quintessential land of bulls, the traditional home of bullfighters, not to mention the most passionate and expert fans. Andalusia is the indisputable benchmark for every expert fan worth their salt. The region with probably the most bull-breeding ranches in Spain, Andalusia is home to the meadows of renowned establishments, such as Juan Pedro Domecq, Marqués de Albaserrada, Partido de Resina, and Osborne. This is where the true home of the art of bullfighting can be found.

Since 1930, when Juan Pedro Domecq y Nuñez de Villavicencio and his son, Juan Pedro Domecq y Diez, bought the renowned ranch of the Duke of Veragua, and decided to add new blood to the breed by crossing them with Tamarón-Conde de la Corte animals, much has changed in bullfighting. Over nearly a century, and thanks to many descendants of the above-mentioned ‘Juan Pedros’, a breed of bull with a personality of its own has, since the mid-20th century, evolved and become, via different blood lines, the dominant breed within the landscape of Spanish fighting bulls.

More than a hundred years have passed since the Marquis of Albaserrada began breeding bulls. In 1912, he bought – from his brother, the Count of Santa Coloma Saltillo – livestock crossed with the Ibarra breed. After the marquis’s death, his widow sold the ranch to José Bueno. Today, after successive divisions of the land and sales, it belongs to Victorino Martín.

On the Partido de Resina ranch, in the heart of the area of Doñana, they breed bulls that are stocky, strong and aggressive.

The Osborne ranch, in the province of Seville, is a traditional establishment where bulls are raised. With their own particular characteristics, these bulls are a well-balanced cross of the Tamarón-Conde and Veragueño breeds. The ranch has always been characterised by the dignity of its animals whose elegant tenacity has, since the outset, set the scene for extraordinary bullfights. 

Spain’s most important bullrings

When it comes to bullrings, Las Ventas in Madrid is the most imposing. The ruedo– the large round circle of sand – of the so-called cathedral of bullfighting is just shy of that in Ronda (Málaga), which boasts the largest in the world by diameter. Las Ventas, built in the Neo-Mudéjar style, is an example of Moorish Revival architecture whose typical features are ornate brickwork embellished with ceramic tiles, in this case bearing the coats of arms of the provinces of Spain, as well as purely decorative elements. Whoever is victorious at Las Ventas, is victorious in the world of bullfighting.

Las Ventas, together with the Real Maestranza bullring in Seville, and those of Pamplona, Valencia, Bilbao, and Ronda are, for their seasonal bullfighting feriasand their international reach, the most important bullrings in Spain.

If you would like us to design a bespoke trip to appreciate the world of bullfighting, please contact us and let us know your needs and those of your travel companions. We guarantee that it will be a unique and truly memorable experience.