Plaza de Toros de las Ventas

Roaring crowds and an ardent passion for toreo, or bullfighting, culminates in a brilliant climax at the phenomenal Plaza de Toros de las Ventas, perhaps the world's most extraordinary arena for this traditional sport. At the backdrop of the bullfights that are held annually between March and October is a longstanding edifice dating back to 1931, a soft brown structure sprawled across a sunlit plaza in the Guindalera quarter. This spectacular bullring can hold a crowd of more than 23,000 spectators, the most vociferous and demanding a bullfighter is ever likely to face. The Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas is an imposing neomudéjar-style building of exposed brickwork, decorated with colorful ceramic tiles, while the ring itself is covered with golden sand from Andalusia. Before this ring was built in the 1930s, bullfights were held in semi-enclosed areas like the Plaza Mayor or Puerta del Sol, and with the advent of this marvelous arena began the celebrated age of Spanish bullfighting.