Ole! Bullfights return in Peru after lengthy pandemic pause

Peru's bullfights, which are about as popular as soccer in the South American nation, made their much-anticipated return this weekend to the rings of Lima after a lengthy pandemic-induced hiatus.

Spanish bullfighter Juan Ortega and his Peruvian colleague Joaquin Galdos took to the ring at the Plaza La Esperanza in Lurin, a coastal district on the capital's south side, where the first bullfights since the Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020 were held Saturday.

"Ole, Ole!" the nearly 3,000 spectators shouted at various points throughout the fight. 

All major public events were brought to a screeching halt last year in Peru, dealing a bitter blow not only to lovers of the ancient but controversial bullfighting tradition, but to the matadors at the center of the spectacle and the associated showmen and cattle breeders.

Bullfighters' assistants, costume seamstresses, cattle wranglers and transporters and food vendors were also affected by the lockdown.

Bullfighting in Peru is not for the faint of heart, as the contest ends with the death of the animal. 

"What you feel in a (bullfighting) plaza is equivalent to the gladiators in the Roman Colosseum," 26-year-old matador Galdos told before heading into the ring. 

The practice arrived in the Americas with Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century, and to this day the spectacles attract thousands of Peruvians of all social classes. The country has more bull rings than football stadiums.