Entertaining the Bull-fighter, by Alarcón 424
“Here comes the Bull!” by P. Francés. National Exhibition of Beaux-Arts, 1887 425
Principal façade of the New Plaza de Toros 428
Principal Entrance to the New Plaza de Toros 429
Bull-fight. Entrance of the “Cuadrilla” 431
Bull-fight. A Picador inciting the bull 432
Bull-fight. Lagartijo after a “Recorte” 437
Bull-fight. Frascuelo irritating the bull with a cloak before killing him 439
Bull-fight. Lagartijo irritating the bull with a cloak before killing him 440
Bull-fight. The bull being dragged out of the Arena 441
Bull-fight. Leap over the bull’s neck 447
Toreador wounded during a bull-fight, by Lizcano 450
Bull-fight. Last moments of a Toreador after being attacked in the Arena, by R. Novas 453
“From Madrid to heaven, and in heaven a spy-hole to look at Madrid” is the vaunt of the inhabitants of the Spanish capital. This pride has its justification, for Madrid is a fine city, remarkable for its position on a plateau over two thousand feet above the sea, famous for its progress during the eventful eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and interesting by reason of the great names in the arts and literature inscribed upon its records. Madrid for the writers of the Romantic school was as charming as all other things Spanish; for de Musset it was “princesse des Espagnes” and “blanche ville des sérénades.”
Few towns in Europe are situated amid so many natural hindrances to development as Madrid. It stands south and east of the bleak mountains of central Spain, upon one of many exposed and almost treeless uplands, where the winds of winter and early spring sting and bite, and the sun in summer sheds pitiless heat, which dries up the blood and disposes to languor. So fickle is the climate of this lofty region that, even in the height of August, it is never quite safe to discard the _capa_ after sundown, for, during the hottest day, a sinister and gelid breath may assail one at the street corner with a menace of chill to the lungs. Yet Madrid is not unhealthy. It is dry, invigorating, swept by mountain breezes, bathed for long periods in brightest sunlight, and free from the contamination and depression of smoke. With proper provision against the variations in temperature, one may enjoy a full measure of health and live to an advanced age in this city of the hills. The more dangerous kinds of fever are uncommon in Madrid; the chief risk to health is in the sudden keen air that brings a shiver when the body has been scorched by the sun, and one turns to seek the shady side of the street.