Dancing with Bulls

The tradition of burning fake little bulls rigged with fireworks most likely started in Spain (but then I don't know for sure). The Spanish brought the real bulls (we don´t deal with those here) and fireworks to the Americas but after ruling Mexico for 300 years and once it became an independent country many Spaniards had to return to Spain. It´s possible that the tradition of the little bulls of fire might have been started in Mexico (since it´s more widespread there) and then it was introduced to Spain.

Either way, the little bulls of Spain are pretty plain and most do not carry large free-roaming rockets. Generally they are rigged just with fireworks that give off sparks as the following picture shows. From the look of the crowd, it seems a rather innocent and casual affair.


On the other hand, the only place you´ll see the MEGA bulls is in Tultepec. The atmosphere there in contrast becomes a little bit more menacing and darker, certainly not kid-friendly.



Another big bull during the daytime parade. This one has paraded 8 years in a row. It somehow manages to survive the burn. Every year after minor repairs to its layers of paper, it gets a new paint makeover and accessories. I´ll post some pics next time showing how the bulls appearance change year after year.