The most famous bullfighting festival in Spain is of course the Pamplona Running of the Bulls at the San Fermin festival in July (which features actual bullfights as well as the famous bull runs) but there are plenty of other bullfighting festivals all over Spain that garner less attention.
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Bullfighting Festivals in Spain
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it gives you an idea of some of the bigger bullfighting festivals.
February
- City: Ciudad de Rodrigo, near Salamanca
- Event: The Carnival in Ciudad Rodrigo is different to other parts of the world. Here it's all about the bullfighting. They even invite audience participation - young bulls are provided for the public to get involved. Read more on Carnival in Spain including more resources on the Ciudad de Rodrigo event.
For more information on festivals in February see Spanish Festivals in February
March
- City: Valencia
- Event: The Fallas festival is Valencia's biggest party - it is mainly about the giant bonfires all over the city but there are also bullfights every day too.
See also Spanish Festivals in March
April
- City: Seville
- Event: Bullfights begin with the end of Semana Santa (Easter) on the Domingo de Resurección (Easter Sunday), which usually falls in April, followed by the Feria de Abril, where you can see a bullfight every day.
For more information on festivals in April see Spanish Festivals in April
May
- City: Madrid
- Event: From the middle of the month is the San Isidro festival, two weeks of daily bullfights at the Las Ventas bullring.
- City: Cáceres
- Event: The Ferias de Caceres are a week of festivities at the end of May/early June, featuring plenty of bullfights.
For more information on festivals in May see Spanish Festivals in May
June
- City: Alicante
- Event: Las Hogueras de San Juan runs for the final week of the month with seven or eight fights during the week.
- City: Coria, Extremadura (near Caceres)
- Event: They say that less is more and, indeed, when the town of Coria lets loose a single bull (as opposed to the usual dozens released during the bull runs) in late June (usually June 23-27) the town's inhabitants enjoy a fun few days as they drink and dance in the streets, until that bull rears his ugly head...
- City: Collado Villalba (Madrid)
- Event: A running of the bulls, as at Pamplona, held in the middle of the month.
- City: Torrejon de Ardoz, near Madrid
- Event: A small running of the bulls. See Pictures of the Running of the Bulls in Torrejonde Ardoz , Madrid, held around the middle of the month.
For more information on festivals in June see Spanish Festivals in June
July
- City: Pamplona
- Event: The San Fermin festival in Pamplona is more than just about the Running of the Bulls. The bulls that take part in the morning run take part in a fight at 5 o'clock later that day.
- City: Zumaya (Zumaia)
- Event: A smaller version of the running of the bulls, held around the same time as the Pamplona event.
- City: Tudela, Navarra (near Pamplona)
- Event: running of the bulls, much like those held in Pamplona, held in the last week of July. See pictures of the encierro (running of the bulls) in Tudela.
- City: Denia (near Alicante)
- Event: The Toros en el Mar (Bous a la Mar in Catalan, Bulls in the Sea in English) in the first two weeks of the month is much like the Pamplona Bull run, but rather than running into a bullring, the bulls run into the seas!
- City: Valencia
- Event: The best time to see a bullfight in Valencia is during the July festival (Feria de Julio).
- City: Coria (near Caceres)
- Event: July 23-29 sees the Bull of St John festival, which sees individual bulls being let out into the streets, where they are taunted by the public. Perhaps the cruelest of the bull festivals. Read more about the Bull Runs in Coria (in Spanish - use Google Translate).
For more information on festivals in July see Spanish Festivals in July.
August
- City: Malaga
- Event: The feria de Agosto in Malaga sees bullfights on an almost daily basis.
- City: Bilbao
- Event: For the last two weeks of August there are the Corridas Generales, a bullfighting festival during which there are fights almost every day.
- City: San Sebastian de los Reyes, Madrid (not to be confused with San Sebastian in the Basque Country)
- Event: On August 28, catch the second most famous bull run in Spain (after the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, of course), known as the 'Pamplona chica'.
For more information on festivals in August see Spanish Festivals in August.
September
- City: Tordesillas, Valladolid
- Event: In the second week of September the inhabitants of Tordesillas celebrate the festival of the Virgen de la Peña. A bull is chased by the townsfolk and then killed. The killer is invited to cut the testicles off the bull. Another particularly unpleasant event. Read more about the bull festival at Tordesillas
- City: Ronda
- Event: The Corridas Goyescas, which take place in September, are Ronda's most celebrated bullfights.
For more information on festivals in September see Spanish Festivals in September
