Las Ventas

Las Ventas, formally the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, is the most important bullring in Spain and one of the largest in the world, seating around 23,800 spectators. Opened in 1931 in the eastern part of Madrid, it replaced an older ring that had grown too small for the capital's appetite for the spectacle.

The building is a showpiece of Neo-Mudéjar architecture, the revived Moorish style popular in early 20th-century Spain. Its circular brick façade is patterned with horseshoe arches, ceramic tiles bearing the coats of arms of Spanish provinces, and decorative ironwork, making the ring itself a monument quite apart from the events inside. The sand arena is ringed by tiered stands divided into the classic sol y sombra, sun and shade.

For followers of bullfighting Las Ventas is the sport's most demanding stage, where a triumph can make a matador's reputation; the annual San Isidro festival in May and June fills the calendar with daily corridas. A small museum attached to the ring traces the history and ritual of the tradition, displaying costumes, posters and mementoes. The arena also hosts concerts through the year.

For visitors the ring can be toured with an audio guide outside the fighting season, taking in the arena, the stands, the chapel where matadors pray and the infirmary. It stands beside its own metro station and is easily reached from the centre. Bullfighting is a controversial practice that many find distressing, and visitors uncomfortable with it can appreciate the remarkable architecture on a tour without attending a corrida. Bronze statues of celebrated matadors and of the surgeon who pioneered bullfighting medicine stand outside, and the ring's Puerta Grande, through which triumphant fighters are carried on the crowd's shoulders, is the sport's ultimate accolade.