Toro de fuego

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This article is about the puppet bull used in parades. For the instance where a real bull is used, see toro embolado.
The "bull" in La Rioja (Spain) is a frame carried by a strong man with a series of fireworks.

A toro de fuego ("fire bull" or "bull of fire") is a festive activity in Spain, where a metal frame resembling a bull, with fireworks attached to it, is set alight, and then the person carrying the frame runs around town at night as if chasing people in the streets.[1] Participants dodge the bull when it comes close, especially because the burning fireworks set off sparks that can cause small burns in people's skin or clothes. This activity is held in a number of Spanish towns during their local festivals. This custom may have originated to replace the Toro embolado, in which a real bull is involved.

A similar custom in Ecuador and other Latin American countries is known as "crazy cow" (Spanish: vaca loca').[2]

Background[edit]

The fire bull is a festival that consists of running a cart or structure made with a frame, that imitates the shape of a bull.[3] The bull is built with a metal or wooden frame or frame so that it can be transported by one or two people. Fireworks are attached to the frame. According to local tradition, the bull can also be in the form of a cart, to which the pyrotechnics are added. The festivals take place during both the day or night.[4]

The bull is widely used during local festivals in numerous towns in Spain. Some of these festivals have their origins in the 19th century, such as the first fire bulls of San Sebastián during La Semana Grande.[3] Once the fireworks are lit, the fiery bull chases anyone gathered in the streets or squares, trying to surprise those who are distracted by scaring them with different types of pyrotechnics.[5]

The fire bull is celebrated in numerous Spanish towns, such as Barrax,[6] Bilbao,[7] Candeleda (Ávila),[8] Ciempozuelos (Madrid),[9] Colombres (Asturias),[10] Guadalajara,[11] Haro (La Rioja),[12] Madridejos (Toledo),[13]​ Tocina (Seville),[14] ​ Valmojado (Toledo),[15] Toro de fuego (Ayerbe) [es] (Huesca) or Fuente de Pedro Naharro (Cuenca). Depending on the location, carts or frames carried by one or more people, with pyrotechnics, are used.

There is an average of one toro de fuego at each local festival. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior for 2003 concerning festejos, there would be 391 for the community of Andalusia, 1143 for the community of Aragon[16], 1552 for the community of Castilla–La Mancha[17], 1986 for the community of Castile and León, 54 for the community of Catalonia, 613 for the community of Extremadura.[18] In total for all of Spain: 11,287.[19]

This custom may have originated to replace the Toro embolado, in which a real bull is involved.[20] In many communities in Spain, without the fire bull people feel that there would be no celebration.[21]

Outside of Spain[edit]

This practice is also celebrated in the south of France, notably in Saint-Savin (Hautes-Pyrénées), Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and Luz-Saint-Sauveur (Hautes-Pyrénées), as well as in Crusnes (Meurthe-et-Moselle).[16]

Similar fiestas are celebrated in other countries such as Colombia,[22] Ecuador,[23] El Salvador, Paraguay or Peru among others, associated with the celebration of local fiestas in some countries, such as the patronal fiestas of Peru or Saint John's Eve in Paraguay, where it is typical. Known as vaca loca, toro candil or torito pinto.[24]

Unlike the bull of fire made in Spain, in some countries of America the bull of fire is decorated with papers and silks of various colors in addition to carrying on the sides or in other areas artificial fires, voladores or reeds with gunpowder that are lit salen disparados.[24]

Many indigenous cultures adopted the bull festival, especially at Christmas as it reflected parts of their pre-Christian beliefs.[23] In Mexico, the bulls are used to celebrate the Christmas holidays in the same tradition of Mojigangas.[25]

Elements of a bull[edit]

Each frame usually has:[26]

  • Nozzles:a piece that consists of a tube loaded with a composition of pressed powder and produces the a jet of fire.
  • Wheelbarrow rockets [es] (borrachos, encorreviejas or buscapiés): fireworks that run along the ground throwing sparks, but without exploding. They can cause burns in contact with clothes and skin
  • Pinwheel: a piece in the shape of a wheel, in which there are several cartridges that release colored sparks when the wheel is pushed in one direction making circles.
  • Cannons: cartridges that launch small colored rockets

Gallery[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Cuzacq, René [in French] (1950). Le toro de fuégo, origines et histoire [The toro de fuégo, origins and history] (in French). Pau: Marrimpouey.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Toro de Fuego - Running of the Bulls®". Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  2. ^ "La tradición de la "Vaca Loca" en las fiestas populares ecuatorianas" (in Spanish). August 2015.
  3. ^ a b Goñi, Félix M. "Fuegos artificiales en Euskalherria" [Fireworks in the Basque Country] (PDF). Normativa sobre espectáculos pirotécnicos (in Basque). Gobierno vasco. p. 26. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  4. ^ Plaza, Donostia Kultura Donostia Kultura Bulegoak Konstituzio. "Encierro de toros de fuego". astenagusia.donostiakultura.eus (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  5. ^ Esnaola, Xabier (10 August 2014). "Los toros de fuego superan los 30". El País (in Spanish). San Sebastián. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  6. ^ "El Toro de Fuego de Barrax, declarado Fiesta de Interés Turístico Regional". abc (in Spanish). 6 August 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Aste Nagusia de Bilbao 2019: programación del 17 de agosto". Kulturklik (in Spanish). 8 September 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Toro de fuego | Puerta de la Vera" (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  9. ^ "Toros de fuego: tradición y cultura de Ciempozuelos". ZIGZAG digital (in Spanish). 28 February 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Fiestas de Colombres 2019". casadepiedra.net (in Spanish). 15 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Nueve heridos en los toros de fuego de Guadalajara". MiraCorredor (in Spanish). 15 September 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Escapando del toro de fuego". La Rioja (in Spanish). 18 September 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Toros de Fuego en Madridejos con motivo de la festividad de San Sebastián - Ayuntamiento de Madridejos". Madridejos. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Bando municipal sobre cohetes, pirotecnia y toros de fuego". Ayuntamiento de Tocina Los Rosales (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Fiestas destacadas". valmojado.com (in European Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  16. ^ a b Maudet 2010, p. 216.
  17. ^ Maudet 2010, p. 217.
  18. ^ Maudet 2010, p. 218.
  19. ^ Maudet 2010, p. 219.
  20. ^ "Playing with Fire". Running of the Bulls. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  21. ^ VILLANUEVA, MARÍA JOSÉ (17 September 2023). "Los populares toros de fuego lidian con la nueva normativa: "Sin ellos no hay fiesta"". Heraldo (in Spanish).
  22. ^ Wade, Peter (August 2000). Music, Race, and Nation: Musica Tropical in Colombia. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-86844-8.
  23. ^ a b Lema A., Germán Patricio (1995). Los otavalos: cultura y tradición milenarias (in Spanish). Editorial Abya Yala. p. 102.
  24. ^ a b Tedesco, Giselda; Alves, Giberto (February 2018). "Toro Candil: tradição de uma fronteira ambivalente". Interações (Campo Grande) (in Portuguese). 19 (1). doi:10.20435/inter.v19i1.1622.
  25. ^ Rey-Marquez, Juan Ricardo (July 2007). "ColecciÓn de Historia, Área de Objetos Testimoniales" (PDF). Cuadernos de Cultura (in Spanish) (5 ed.). Museo Nacional de Colombia. ISSN 1909-5929.
  26. ^ Domingo Daza Librero (2012). "Toro de fuego, feria de Salteras". YouTube (in Spanish).

Bibliography[edit]

  • Maudet, Jean-Baptiste (2010). Terres de taureaux [Lands of bulls: bullfighting games from Europe to America]. les jeux taurins de l'Europe à l'Amérique (in French). Madrid: Casa de Velasquez. p. 512. ISBN 978-84-96820-37-1.

External links[edit]

  • Media related to fire bull at Wikimedia Commons
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