Latinos News in English

She is the Matador!

Mari Paz Vega,one of the most recognized women bullfighters in the world, is struggling to become a Matador. In Spain, she confronts prejudice because women bullfighters are unconventional. Here she shows the detailing of her uniform, the "suit of lights" that she uses in all her performances.

Talcual Films

Before going to the arena, Mari Paz Vega opens her portable altar. She initiates meditation and prays to God and her deceased mother for a good fight and performance.

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Here Mari Paz is in the back left, next three other male bullfighters who are her helpers or "cuadrilla" in the ring. During the fight, her life depends on them.

Generally, women are just spectators or part of the processional ceremonies. They "could even be lovers of the matadores, but never a bullfighter," says Gemma Cubero one of the filmmakers.

Talcual Films

Mari Paz Vega, standing here with her cape, prepares to make the first pass to the bull. Bullfighting is a controversial event, considered by some to be a sport, for others a dance or ballet, and for some plain brutality.

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Mari Paz prays before stepping into the ring. Bullfighting is full of superstitions and traditions. Mari Paz, for example, always carries her mother's picture inside her hat as a good luck charm.

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When she was a teenager, Eva Florencia, (in the middle) left her family and her country Italy to pursue her dream of becoming a bullfighter.
In this photo she is with Gemma Cubero right, and Celeste Carrasco left, the Spaniard filmmakers that made the film. She is the Matador!

Talcual Films

In this photo, Eva Florencia waits for her first bullfight in an arena.

She endured years of training to have this opportunity. To become a Matador, you need to have participated in at least 35 bullfights. Once these have been completed, the Matador can aspire to reach his or her dreams of glory.


Talcual Films

Juanita Cruz was the last of the women bullfighters after the practice was forbidden by the Spanish authorities in 1908. Women were banned because the authorities were afraid that an injury could impede a bullfighter from having children or exposing their skin in public.

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Before women were banned from bullfighting, the practice was well spread in all of Spain. Even inside convents, nuns were having their own bullfights.

Talcual Films