While corridas run from spring through autumn, the season really lives inside the ferias. Think of them as civic homecomings with a daily 6 p.m. heartbeat in the plaza de toros.
While corridas run from spring through autumn, the season really lives inside the ferias. Think of them as civic homecomings with a daily 6 p.m. heartbeat in the plaza de toros.
November 10, 2025
While corridas run from spring through autumn, the season really lives inside the ferias. Think of them as civic homecomings with a daily 6 p.m. heartbeat in the plaza de toros.
Spain’s bullfighting season is more than a series of fights in the ring; it is a living tradition pulsating through the country’s cities, where music, parades, gastronomy, and ritual intertwine with the thrill of the corrida. From spring to autumn, ferias transform towns into immersive spectacles, blending centuries-old pageantry with modern street life, creating a rhythm that is uniquely Spanish. At the heart of each feria, the plaza de toros beats like a civic heart at 6 p.m, drawing locals and visitors alike into a ritual that is part adrenaline, part artistry. Here, bullfighting is both sport and theater, danger and choreography, where the matador’s traje de luces glimmers under the sun and the bull’s raw power meets human skill in a codified dance honed over generations. Each feria has its own personality: Seville celebrates elegance and flamenco under lantern-lit skies; Madrid demands precision and veracity from its toreros; Pamplona embraces chaos and exhilaration in the streets before the ceremonial afternoons; and Bilbao blends Basque fervor with formidable bulls and fearless performances. To follow the season is to step into a mosaic of culture, history, and spectacle, where every city tells its story through the daring, the ritual, and the crowds that throng its streets and arenas.
Fighting bulls, bred on open-range ganaderías for strength and temperament, enter the ring marked with a rosette of their ranch’s colors. What is now a codified spectacle took shape in 17th-century Andalusia, with music, capes, and the ornate traje de luces that matadors still wear. The corrida unfolds in three acts: testing the bull with the capote, the picadores’ lance work, the planting of banderillas, and finally the matador’s faena with muleta and sword leading to the killing thrust, the perilous estocada. Time is strictly measured by trumpet warnings, while success is marked by trophies—ears, a tail, or in rare cases, a pardon that spares the bull for breeding.
Risk shadows every moment: careers are scarred by cornadas and tragedies have claimed famous figures from Manolete to Víctor Barrio, though some, like Juan José Padilla, return despite devastating wounds. Women, present since the 18th century and immortalized by Goya, fought long bans to reclaim their place, with pioneers like María de los Ángeles Hernández Gómez paving the way for later generations to reach full matador status.
The world knows Pamplona for the morning encierro, the “running of the bulls” that funnels the day’s animals through old streets to the ring. The festivals’ pulse, however, is in the afternoon corridas featuring elite matadors. For locals, it’s a week of white-and-red outfits, brass bands, and packed stands; for toreros, a high-profile proving ground.
Rockets crack, the day’s bulls thunder over cobblestones to the ring, and balcony breakfasts give way to afternoon corridas that feel almost ceremonial after the street’s adrenaline. Far to the south, Málaga’s mid-August fair splits in two: a breezy daytime party in the historic center and a neon-lit fairground at Cortijo de Torres.
In La Malagueta, the sea-breeze arena, sunsets gild programs that mix household names with crowd-pleasing horseback toreo. Bilbao closes out August with Aste Nagusia, a big week of fireworks, riverfront txosnas, and heavyweight cards at Vista Alegre. The Basque crowd skews knowledgeable yet festive, pairing pintxos with a taste for powerful bulls and direct, courageous toreo.
Madrid’s marathon fair is arguably the most demanding in the bullfighting world. Night after night at Las Ventas, the bill features top matadors facing prestigious ganaderías. Form here can define a season; a triumphant salida en hombros through the Puerta Grande is a career milestone.
The Feria de San Isidro, held each May and June in Madrid’s Las Ventas bullring, is Spain’s most prestigious bullfighting festival and a cornerstone of the season. Over the course of nearly a month, the world’s leading matadors, breeders, and young hopefuls perform before packed crowds, with each afternoon presenting a new corrida or novillada. Beyond the ring, the feria transforms Madrid into a cultural celebration with concerts, religious processions honoring the city’s patron saint, San Isidro Labrador, and lively gatherings that fill the plazas and streets. It is both a showcase of tradition and artistry, and a test of reputation where careers can be made — or broken, under the scrutiny of Spain’s most discerning audience.
Seville’s spring fair saturates the city with lanterns, casetas (striped party tents), horse-drawn carriages, and flamenco. In the honey-colored Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, afternoon corridas showcase tradition at its most classical — elegant paseíllos, exacting audiences, and an aesthetic that prizes purity of form as much as bravura.
April belongs to Seville. After the midnight alumbrao flips on a galaxy of lanterns, the Feria de Abril turns the fairground into a city of striped casetas, horse-drawn carriages, and flamenco dresses.
In La Maestranza, one of Spain’s most exacting audiences rewards classical lines and clean execution, elegance is as prized as bravura. From early May to mid-June, Madrid’s Feria de San Isidro becomes a marathon: week after week at Las Ventas, elite matadors face prestigious ganaderías under the stern gaze of aficionados who can make — or unmake, a season in an afternoon. Leaving the arena through the Puerta Grande on a salida en hombros remains a career-defining miracle.
