Students Of The Globe - A Family Travels The World: Ronda, Spain

Thankfully we were protected and every detail of our travels from the countryside by taxi to the overnight sleeper train from Marrakesh to Tangier, taxi to the Tangier port, ferry from Tangier to Tariffa, Spain, bus from Tariffa to Algeciras, Spain, walk to Agleciras train station, train to Ronda, and walk to our accommodation all in a 27 hour period and without Dad, our main navigator. We quickly realized Mom needed to sleep with the kids in the 4 bed sleeper cabin as her roommates had a 3 year old that was pulling things out of her bag and making a lot of noise (we’d purchased our tickets a week earlier and had a full cabin of 4 to ourselves and 2 beds in another cabin). So Mom and SJ shared a small bed and no one slept great as the neighbor girl (who was supposed to be one of our roommates) kept us up most the night. Waiting for the ferry we met a sweet couple from Duluth and visited with them about the Middle East as he was born in Jerusalem and left during the ’68 war. We also met Charlie, a fun jhujitzu instructor at a café in Algeciras – each of these run-ins were great ways to re-boot and keep us going along the way. We were so grateful to arrive in Ronda safely.

Aside from learning about bullfighting (see below), we enjoyed walking the cobblestone streets of this white village and looking out over the El Tajo gorge, hiking down into the valley, and the beautiful weather and scenery. It was a peaceful and quiet couple of days, which we appreciated as our hearts were heavy knowing that Ray's Dad's funeral was happening back home.

Views down into the gorge

Beautiful views over the valley

Amazing views on our hike down into the valley

Exploring the cobblestone alleyways of this whitewashed village

Beautiful views of village on the edge of the cliff

Our last morning we tried churros as we'd read that these were a traditional snack or breakfast and they dip them in chocolate. We'd passed a store our first night and the line was out the door. Mom promised that we would get some after dinner, but they had just closed when we returned. The following day they were closed. The kids were thrilled to find the store open for breakfast the morning we were leaving, so we went in and placed an order for 5 churros. We ended up getting a platter with a mound of large fried tubes and another plate with smaller fried spirals. On our table were two squeeze bottles, one of milk chocolate and one white chocolate. We tried our best to eat the massive amount of fried food served to us, but mom was SO glad when the kids begged to never have churros again as we walked out of the shop that morning!

Our churro con chocolate breakfast experience!

Our middle son wrote the following information about what we learned touring a farm that raised bulls to sell to bullfighters, and also touring Spain's oldest bullring here in Ronda:

Bullfighting is a major sport in Spain. The activity has existed for over 4,000 years. Bulls only fight once in their life, otherwise after their first fight they will learn to charge at the horse or rider instead of going after the red flag. The oldest bullfighting arena is located in Ronda, Spain. The bullfighting industry generates roughly 2.5 billion dollars annually. Since 1700, 533 professional bullfighters have been killed in the ring.

Bulls raised for bullfighting are treated as if they are royalty and as if they are in a workout class. For example their water is placed at the top of a hill and food at the bottom, so they constantly have to walk up and down the hill to eat and drink. Bulls start to train at age two, and are usually sold around age five to six. Training is different from fighting. In training bulls enter a circle arena with a trainer, is often a professional bullfighter, on a horse. There isn’t any fighting involved, but every move of the bull is recorded including: how many times the bull glances back, which indicates he wants to exit the ring, how many times the bull charges, and how many times he stops to take in his surroundings.

When bulls are around five to six years old they have fully developed bodies and horns. At this age their bodies will weigh between 1,100-1,300 pounds, and they will be fully trained, and be sold in groups six to fight. During a Corrida, which is a bullfighting match, there are six bulls and three bullfighters. Each fighter fights two bulls, and a match is roughly one and a half hours to two and a half hours long. During the fight the bulls are always killed.

Each bullfight is divided into three stages. In the first stage, which starts when the bull enters the arena, the bullfighters mission is to stab the bull’s neck. This weakens the bull’s neck muscles and makes the bull less dangerous. The bullfighter does this stage while riding a horse. During the second stage the bullfighter leaves his horse, and his mission is to stab two poles with metal tips into each of the bull’s shoulders. This weakens the bull even more. The final stage is to kill the bull. During this stage the bullfighter tries to make the bull charge at a red cape, which the bullfighter will be holding out. While the bull is charging, the bullfighter will drive his sword through the bull’s shoulder and into it’s heart. The bullfighter has only fifteen minutes to execute this last stage. When the bull is killed it is then pulled out of the stadium, and is taken to the butcher.

Bullfighting is one of the oldest sports still practiced today. It is a dangerous sport, and many people have died from beginners to professionals. Surprisingly, bulls have to be trained just as much as bullfighters. Most bullfighters are from a family line of bullfighters, and it is uncommon to for a first-generation bullfighter to become a professional. Bullfighting may appear as a cruel and vicious sport, but it also involves giving the bull a luxurious life, and if the bull wasn’t a bullfighting bull he would be killed for meat anyway at around age two. Bullfighting is more than just a sport in Spain it is part of their culture.