Roa (Castilla y Leon): Fiestas Patronales

About 15km from Gumiel de Mercado is a town called Roa which recently held their fiestas patronales. The fiesta is somewhat infamous in the area and runs for four days. There is live music and parties at night but the real attraction is in the morning. The town is no bigger than a few thousand at most but they hold their own version of the running of the bulls. Since human and animal rights have become more prominent in Spain, many of the fiestas patronales have become somewhat watered down, aka, safer and more responsible. However, traditions remain strong and authentic in rural areas where fiestas are less likely to be scrutinized and changed.

The first running takes place at 9AM, extremely early for the average Spanish person. This is a result of the festivities carrying on throughout the night. It is well known, accepted and even encouraged for the youth to stay up all night drinking and partying, followed by a running of the bulls. The town offers free soup before running, a rural specialty called sopa de ajo (garlic soup), a simple dish consisting of day-old stale bread, garlic,olive oil, red pepper and water, most commonly consumed in the winter. This acts as a replenishing meal of sorts for those planning on running. The meal is organized by the asociación de amas de casa, loosely translated to the housewives association, another clear indicator of how rural Roa is.

Free soup!

The main corridor is constructed through the city and although it is temporary, it is strong enough to withstand the bulls and thin enough that you can easily slide through the bars. As the time got closer to the running, those brave enough to run with the bulls congregated and stretched. Many continued drinking beer, wine and hard alcohol. Although I didn't stay up all night partying, I knew the familiar look in many of the people's eyes; intense alcohol consumption paired with sleep deprivation.

A volunteer medic and excited runner get ready.

Before the bulls were let loose there were two cannon-like firecracker signals to let everyone get prepared, and another when they were released. While the bulls weren't very large and there weren't as many as I expected, they were running fast with throngs of people in front of and behind them. I was a bit disappointed there weren't more people in the thick of it, though unbeknown to me at the time, there was more.

A sign of a village developing into a town is the presence of a 'plaza de toros'. These plazas are found throughout cities in Spain and are typically constructed for these very types of events. Sometimes they will host concerts or other events, but their main purpose is for the once a year event of the bulls, specifically for corridas de toros (bull fighting and killing the bull).

The bulls run through the streets ended at the plaza de toros. T̈he same canon-like signal is broadcast to let everyone know the bulls had reached. After the last bull had run, the crowd filled into the stadium. There were two doors, one labeled 'sol' (sun) and one 'sombra' (shade), and each took you to the respective side of the stadium. The signs were ornate and permanent, indicating that these events always took place at the same time of the day (afternoon).

As people filled the stadium the buzz was contagious. People were anxious in anticipation for the first bull to be let out. A group of people had set up two props: a kind of hollow box, resembling an empty foosball table, and a small elevated stand with an iron pole-like structure in the middle. I was initially confused by the presence of these objects but soon found out their utility.

After everything was set up, they let the first bull out in the ring. I was shocked as the ring was full of two dozen or so young men, all of them completely amateurs and the majority obviously drunk. Meanwhile the bull ran wild and their provocations only further angered him. Most of the guys only provoked the bull until it turned their direction, at which point they scampered to the nearest wall and desperately flung themselves over it. The walls were just high enough that one needed to have some athletic ability to clear it resulting in some people flipping over the wall, much to the delight of the crowd. Occasionally there were brave souls that stood the bull head on and dodged the horns at the last minute. When well executed they received a collective audible gasp of breath from the crowd and a raucous applause. It was as close to Roman games at the Colosseum than I think I'll ever get.

Dodging the bulls.

The bull is released and immediately goes for those along the wall.

The loudest cheer of the morning came when an over-zealous and drunk guy finally got what was coming to him. He was showing off a little too dramatically and reveling in crowd glory before the bull had moved onto another target. He was narrowly gored a few times and on one pass he was finally caught and pinned to the ground by the bull. He quickly recovered, pounced on his feet, faced the bull head on, and when the bull charged he leaped over the bull, using his head as a kind of stepping stone. It was something out of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and the fact that seconds earlier he had been pinned under the bull made it all the more spectacular. The crowd ate it up and he received a thundering ovation. Drunk with glory, he attempted to provoke the bull again, only to realize that he had sustained an injury and was limping.

Showdown.

There were a total of three bulls, each of them getting progressively more aggressive and in turn, the boldness of the participants decreased. Spain is traditionally an extremely masculine culture and these events used to have a major role in the display of locals bravery. Although this aspect might still be part of the event, I doubt these men get the glory of those in years past. It was still fun to watch and there were certainly some very good moments, especially with the props. When people jumped inside the hollow fooseball table, they thought they were safe, but the bull attempted several times to overturn the structure. The bull also managed to frighten a guy up the iron pole, making him appear something like a cat stuck in a tree.

I bet they didn't count on the bull stepping on the platform.

The whole thing was equally entertaining as it was shocking. I mean, to put people in a ring with bulls is dangerous enough. The fact that these guys were amateurs almost guaranteed something would go wrong and add in the fact that they were drunk, well, I am shocked no one died. When I asked about the danger of someone dying it was explained that usually people will come and distract the bull if they have pinned someone. And although no one wants to see anyone get killed, there is a certain longing for disaster that no one vocalizes but everyone hopes for. In fact, a few years back there was a bull that killed someone and all the other small villages with events with bulls wanted to rent the bull. It was some kind of celebrity killer bull for fiestas across Spain.

I went back for another round on the last day and I found they had gotten rid of the props. The wannabe matadors were fewer in number and not as bold (or drunk) as the first day. The crowd was a bit restless and several murmurs of 'this isn't very exciting' and 'all these guys are cowards' could be heard all around. This was only accentuated by the fact that the bull was now standing in the middle, leisurely peeing after surveying the empty arena. The wannabe matadors must have felt the same because they soon stepped up their performance. A couple of guys ended up getting mauled, one of them getting pinned against the wall and coming up with a torn shirt (which the crowd loved).

This guy bit off more than he could chew.

A big highlight and the most serious injury came when a young guy drinking a cup of wine was inside the arena and got caught unexpectedly off guard. He was on the opposite side of the bull and was enjoying himself, taunting the bull and joking with friends. Suddenly, the bull came full steam from across the arena and it took the guy a second to realize he was too far from the wall. He immediately turned and bolted for the wall, throwing his cup of wine in the air in dramatic fashion. He nearly escaped but obviously had trouble climbing the wall and as he pushed himself over the bull caught up to him and shoved him even further in the air. The resulting flight of the poor guy was something out of a cartoon as he shot high in the air and subsequently disappeared behind the wall falling face first. Because of the way the wall is positioned, people often jump over the wall and from the seats above it's unclear if they landed properly. Well, it was obvious to everyone right away that this guy wasn't going to pop right up. A crowd rushed over and the medics were standing by so he received immediate attention. After a minute or two he popped up and received a nice ovation from the crowd.

The fiesta up to this point had been fantastic and a great introduction to the prominence of bulls in Spanish culture. I was satisfied and could have gone home happy. Then, a rare, exciting, and dangerous event occurred.

The bull jumped the first wall. How an animal that big jumps a wall that more adept and agile humans struggle with is beyond me, but it did it. And pandemonium ensued.

The bull being directed back to the interior. He received pats on the back and butt slaps like a professional athlete.

I had been told that the bulls occasionally jump the walls, but that it was rare. And luckily there was another wall that separated the tiered spectator seating but there were still a lot of people in the area the bull jumped into. Some of them were among those that would provoke the bulls, but the majority were just those who wanted to be close to the action but not actually get their hands dirty. All those standing in the area immediately tried to jump over the fence and enter in to the main ring as the bull, suddenly panicked by the confined space, moved through the narrow area.

The bull was eventually led back into the ring but the crowd remained on their feet. I couldn't help but smile as I looked over towards the two elderly gentlemen who had earlier been sitting with their arms crossed complaining about the lack of action, now grinning ear to ear, apparently now satisfied with the amount of action.