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The Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas is a famous bullring
Bullring

A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with Spain, but they can also be found in neighboring countries and the New World....
 in Madrid
Madrid

Madrid is the Capital and largest city of Spain. It is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its Madrid metropolitan area is the Largest urban areas of the European Union in the European Union after Paris aire urbaine, Greater London Urban Area, a...
 (Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
).

Situated in the barrio
Barrio

Barrio is a Spanish language word meaning district or neighborhood. The word has come into use in English language mostly through the large Hispanic populations on both coasts of the United States....
 of Guindalera in the district of Salamanca
Salamanca (Madrid)

The district of Salamanca is one of the 21 districts that form the city of Madrid, Spain . It received its name from its founder, the M?laga native Don Jos? de Salamanca y Mayol, Marquess of Salamanca, who founded the area in the 19th century....
, it was inaugurated on June 17, 1931. It has a seating capacity
Seating capacity

Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, either in terms of the space available, or in terms of limitations set by law....
 of 25,000 and is regarded as the home of bullfighting
Bullfighting

Bullfighting or tauromachy , is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, some cities in southern France, and several Latin American countries, in which one or more live bulls are ritually killed as a public spectacle....
 in Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 and arguably in the world.

This bullring was designed by an architect called Espeliú.






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Las Ventas
The Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas is a famous bullring
Bullring

A bullring is an arena where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with Spain, but they can also be found in neighboring countries and the New World....
 in Madrid
Madrid

Madrid is the Capital and largest city of Spain. It is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its Madrid metropolitan area is the Largest urban areas of the European Union in the European Union after Paris aire urbaine, Greater London Urban Area, a...
 (Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
).

Situated in the barrio
Barrio

Barrio is a Spanish language word meaning district or neighborhood. The word has come into use in English language mostly through the large Hispanic populations on both coasts of the United States....
 of Guindalera in the district of Salamanca
Salamanca (Madrid)

The district of Salamanca is one of the 21 districts that form the city of Madrid, Spain . It received its name from its founder, the M?laga native Don Jos? de Salamanca y Mayol, Marquess of Salamanca, who founded the area in the 19th century....
, it was inaugurated on June 17, 1931. It has a seating capacity
Seating capacity

Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, either in terms of the space available, or in terms of limitations set by law....
 of 25,000 and is regarded as the home of bullfighting
Bullfighting

Bullfighting or tauromachy , is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, some cities in southern France, and several Latin American countries, in which one or more live bulls are ritually killed as a public spectacle....
 in Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 and arguably in the world.

This bullring was designed by an architect called Espeliú. Its style is Neo-Mudéjar
Neo-Mudéjar

The Neo-Mud?jar is an Architectural style which originated in Spain and emerged as a revival of the Mud?jar architecture. It appeared in the late 19th century in Madrid, and soon spread to other regions of the country....
 (Moorish) with pottery incrustations. The seats are situated in 10 "tendidos". The price of the seats depends upon how close they are to the "arena" and whether they are in the sun or the shade (the latter being more expensive). The bullfighting season starts in March and ends in December; bullfights are held every day during the San Isidro Fiesta, and every Sunday or holiday during the season. Bullfights start at 6 or 7pm and last for two to three hours.

"Las Ventas" is located in the east of Madrid. It is recommended to use the Metro de Madrid (Las Ventas station is on lines 2 and 5), or any of the city buses which stop next to the bullring.

History


From 1913 to 1920, the national celebration (bullfighting
Bullfighting

Bullfighting or tauromachy , is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, some cities in southern France, and several Latin American countries, in which one or more live bulls are ritually killed as a public spectacle....
) gained such an important status that Madrid's
Madrid

Madrid is the Capital and largest city of Spain. It is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its Madrid metropolitan area is the Largest urban areas of the European Union in the European Union after Paris aire urbaine, Greater London Urban Area, a...
 former main bullring in Carretera de Aragon was not big enough. It was José Gómez Ortega
José Gómez Ortega

Jos? G?mez Ortega , commonly known as Joselito or Joselito el Gallo, or Gallito, was a Spain matador in the early twentieth century....
 "Joselito" who declared that a new "monumental" bullring had to be built, to open this piece of heritage and culture to the whole city of Madrid
Madrid

Madrid is the Capital and largest city of Spain. It is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its Madrid metropolitan area is the Largest urban areas of the European Union in the European Union after Paris aire urbaine, Greater London Urban Area, a...
. His friend and architect José Espeliu began to work on the project.

A family called Jardón gave the land to the Deputy of Madrid
Madrid

Madrid is the Capital and largest city of Spain. It is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its Madrid metropolitan area is the Largest urban areas of the European Union in the European Union after Paris aire urbaine, Greater London Urban Area, a...
, provided that they could run the arena for fifty years. The deputation accepted the proposal on November 12 1920. On March 19 1922, in the exact center of the prospective arena, the first stone was placed. The construction of the bullring would cost 12 million peseta
Peseta

Peseta may refer to*The Spanish peseta, the former currency of Spain*The Catalan peseta, the former currency of Catalonia*Ex gang members in Prisons in Honduras...
s (4.5 million over budget), and it would replace the old bullring, dating from 1874.

"Las Ventas" was finished in 1929 and two years later, June 17 1931, a charity bullfight was held with a full capacity crowd to inaugurate it. Bullfighting stopped during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted coup d'?tat by a group of Spanish Army generals, supported by the conservative Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right , Carlist groups and the fascistic Falange, against the government of the Second Spanish Republic, then under the leadership of pr...
 and did not resume until May 1939.

In 1996, Australian rock band AC/DC performed at the Las Ventas for their Ballbreaker tour. They recorded the performance on DVD for the concert video, "AC/DC: No Bull", as a reference to the fact they were playing at a bullfighting arena, with no bull present.

Situation


"Las Ventas" is divided in a ring or "arena", and a group of zones called "patios". Its architecture is mudejar
Mudéjar

Mud?jar is the name given to the Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Christian territory after the Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity....
, with pottery representations of the heraldic crests of the different Spanish provinces on them. The "arena" has a diameter of 60 meters. The seating capacity is divided into 10 "tendidos" (group of 27 rows around the "arena"), some of them in the shade and the rest in the sun. The prices of the tickets are more expensive in the shade and in the rows which are nearer to the "arena" or crowned by bleachers, gradins, boxes and covered grandstands.

The president of the 'corrida' sits in the 10th Tendido. The Royal Box is of outstanding design, with its arabesque architecture [mudejar], a complete bathroom and a lift. Opposite to the Royal Box, in the covered grandstand roof, is the clock. The bullring has five gates, plus three more called "toriles", from where the bulls enter the arena. The door of "cuadrillas", between "tendidos" 3 and 4, has access to the horse yard. In this door, the "paseillo" starts and the "picadores"(those who punish the bull with the lance) come out from here to the arena ("suerte de varas"). The dragging door, that leads to the skinning room, is between "tendidos" 1 and 2. The famous "Puerta Grande" (Big Door), also called the Door of Madrid, is between "tendidos" 7 and 8. Going out through this door, especially during the Fiesta of San Isidro, is every bullfighter's ambition. There is also a chapel and a small sick bay with two operating rooms.

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