Introducing The Queen in Spain

Hello all. As many of you know, my Queen (Did you know that a queen is a a female cat?) has been galavanting around Spain for the past week with five of her high school students. She sent an email about her wanderings that I found interesting and which I am reproducing in part here for your edification and enjoyment. Thanks Sweetie.

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This weekend I went to Ronda with a new friend(Lorenza) who is from the Italian part of Switzerland. Ronda is around 2 hours by train and is located high on a cliff overlooking one of the most verdant valleys you have ever seen in your life.

The city has an old and new part to it. Both are separated by a deep gorge and yet connected by two impressive bridges which rise up from this canyon: the only way to approach the old part of the city and hence one of the last strongholds of Moorish Rule in Spain. The old part of the city is all cobblestone streets which rise and fall with the contours of this secluded hill. Houses are built right to the edge and some appear to be carved into the side of the hill. One wonders how any of this was accomplished since a lot of it was built before the 1400´s.

The "new" bridge which currently stands was built around 1750. From a distance one can see a door in the upper middle part of the bridge. Apparently there is also another one on the other side. I overheard a tour guide say that this was the old alcatraz of Ronda since the only escape was to leave through these doors which, of course, lead no where but to the deep gorge below.

Ronda is also known for its famous bull-fighting arena. Here, modern bull fighting was born. The man who made bull fighting on foot popular was a man from Ronda by the name of Pedro Romero. Before, gentlemen considered "bull-fighting" a sport, and like their English fox-hunting counterparts, executed this sport on horseback. Pedro Romero however made bull-fighting on foot popular and certainly a lot more dangerous and exciting to watch.

Apparently the bull is one of the only animals who will continue to attack its aggressor despite being wounded (or at least "the best" of the species are.) They have extremely strong necks capable of lifting and entire horse and its rider up and over itself. A "torero" who is caught by one of these beast can be flung 20-40 feet up into the air. In yesteryear before the invention of penicillin, a torero who was gored by a bull, if he didn´t die on the spot, often died of the infection which resulted. Toreros in Ronda erected a monument to Ian Flemming, the inventor of penicillin, due to the prolonged life span a torero now enjoys.

To be the doctor of a bull-fighting arena today is a great honor. The pay, 1 Euro a year, is mere ceremony since the honor itself is pay enough.

Young men can begin their training as young as 4 years old, but they may not fight in the arena until they are 14. Still way too young, if you ask me!

Another thing I learned is that a bull fight always continues even despite the death of a matador. The other matadors continue the
fight. If a matador does a good job he receives as price one of the ears of the bull. If he does really, really well, he will receive both ears and will be carried on the peoples shoulders around the arena and out into the streets. Once in a while, the specatators will ask the arena president to spare the life of the bull, if he is an exceptional beast. The matador must also agree, in which case the bull is cured of its wounds by the "bandorilleros" and the "picador" and is used as stud
for future generations.

In Ronda we got to see the entire arena. Not just the round arena
where the bull fight happens but also the "behind-the-scenes areas." There is an intricate laberynth of doors and narrow passage ways that leads the bulls to where they are to be kept and from there to the arena. Each door can be lifted from up above while the bull passes safely down below. Before arriving at the arena the bulls are kept in a field away from people. They are completely free and wild. After their capture and arrival at the arena they are allowed to rest a few days before the actual bull fight so that they are in top condition. It is said that a bull that is raised to become a bull in a bull fight is the best kept animal in the world.

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