[Nov. 2021] On the second day in Osuna, a small town in the Andalusia region of Spain, we had time only in the morning, so we decided to go and see the bullring in the town.
We arrived at the bullring before 10:30, but the person in charge refused us, saying, “The next tour will be at 11:15.”
At most of the highlights of Osuna you have to join tours with guides, and the times are fixed.
What’s more, everywhere starts the tour at the same time of the day, so if you miss one, it is no point going to somewhere else.
Fortunately, the weather was excellent on this day as well, and it was fun to walk around the town and kill time.
There were plenty of beautiful scenery that would be perfect for drama locations and advertising photos.
For example, a red scooter and a classic car were parked in the white-walled houses as if intentionally, and a dog was showing his face out of the window, and so on.
It was like the town was saying “Take a picture of me”.
On the way, there was a statue of bears on the chains to the castle.
The name of the town of Osuna comes from ‘oso’, which means a bear that used to be around here in Roman times apparently.
Now, it was time for a tour of the bullring, and when we returned, we were the only ones who participated.
The person at the reception, who was cold earlier, said a little apologetically, “Because the time is fixed.”
She explained various things in poor English with all her might.
She said that there is a plan to introduce an audio guide, but it has not been realized yet.
The bullfighting in this town was originally done in the town square, but it was too small so they built this bullring here in the early 20th century.
This bullring was designed by Anibal Gonzalez, who created the Spanish Square in Seville.
In the museum inside the bullring, there were three majestic stuffed bulls.
They were powerful.
Then, we moved to the top guest seat overlooking the round bullring.
The numbered stone steps are the seats, and the seats in the sun are apparently cheaper.
She also showed us the bulls’ waiting rooms.
This bullring is now known as the location of the US TV series “Game of Thrones”, and at the time of shooting, the actors of the leading roles used these bulls’ waiting rooms as dressing rooms.
We haven’t seen this drama, but when I searched online, I found this bullring scene.
A lot of people are on this violent scene where two tribes kill each other.
And a monster bird appears at the end and takes off with the princess on its back.
I wonder if a fan of the drama can recognise the scene?
It seems that this TV drama was filmed all over the world, including the places we visited, such as in Sibenik, Croatia, and Alcazar of Seville.
The economic effects of dramas and movies are amazing.
Culross in Scotland where we visited in June was also attracting tourists because it was used as a location of a drama.
At this bullring, we also visited a chapel where bullfighters always pray before the game, and a stable (there are two types of bullfighting, one is on horseback and the other is without horses).
Oh yeah, then there was also a slaughter room in case the bull dies.
She said that they will be disassembled and sold to butchers.
And the meat of bull for bullfighting is apparently very delicious.
