Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: bullring

Málaga's history spans around 2,800 years, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe. The city was founded around the 8th century BC by seafaring Phoenicians, who called the city Malaka. From the 6th century BC, the city was under the hegemony of ancient Carthage and from the Second Punic War (218 BC) under Roman rule. The city experienced an economic boom thanks to the production of garum. The Migration Period meant eventful years for Málaga. After the Vandals and the Alans, Visigoths and Eastern Romans fought for control. In 571, the city was briefly occupied by troops of the Visigothic king Leovigild, but it was not until around 616 that the Eastern Romans finally handed the city over to the Visigoths. The Moors conquered Málaga in 711 and the city gained importance in the 11th century when the Hammudids established one of their residences here. In 1053, the King of Granada had the last Hammudid caliph poisoned and conquered the city. After the conquest by the Catholic Monarchs in the course of the Reconquista in 1487, "reforms" began to transform the city into a Christian settlement. In Muslim times, the Jewish quarter was located in the eastern part of the city. In the 11th century, the city took in numerous Jews who had fled from the intolerant Berbers in Córdoba. In the middle of the 11th century, around 200 Jews lived in Málaga out of a population of around 20,000. After the city was conquered by Castile in 1487, all of Malaga's Jews were taken prisoner. Around 1490 it was decided that the city should be repopulated by Christians. Jews and Muslims had to leave Málaga within 15 days. The bullring named "La Malagueta" seen from the Alcazaba. It was inaugurated in 1876, with a traditional corrida de toros. In 1939, during the last months of the Spanish Civil War, the regime decided to use the bullring to house prisoners. In 1943, during the Second World War, it was once again used to house prisoners.

In Roman times, the town was known as Turgalium. Following the Islamic conquest after 711, Trujillo became one of the main towns in the region. A Moorish fortress was built in the 10th century. In the course of the Reconquista, Trujillo was taken by Alfonso VIII of Castile in 1186 but was lost again to the Almohads in 1189. The town was finally captured in 1232. During the final assault, according to the local legend, many Christian soldiers reported seeing the Virgin Mary (= "Virgen de la Victoria") between the towers of the castle. Numerous conquistadors came from Trujillo, including the members of the Pizarro family. Francisco Pizarro, who led the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, is the most famous of them. In February 2023 a bullring was set up on the Plaza Mayor.

In the Roman Empire, the city was known as "Emerita Augusta", the capital of the province of Lusitania. It was founded in 25 BC by Emperor Augustus as a colony for the veteran soldiers ("emeritus") of the Roman legions. The city was very important in Roman Hispania. It was endowed with all the comforts of a large Roman city and served as the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania. For centuries, until the fall of the Roman Empire, Mérida was an important economic, military, and cultural center. Following invasions from the Visigoths, Mérida remained an important city of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania in the 6th century. In 713, the Arabs conquered the city and devastated it. Even under Islamic rule, Mérida remained a bishop's seat until it was moved to Santiago de Compostela in 1119. In 1230 the Christian troops under Alfonso IX conquered Mérida during the Reconquista. Mérida has a long bullfighting tradition, linked primarily to bullfights organized by brotherhoods, such as the bullfight organized in 1460 by the Brotherhood of San Gregorio Ostiense, patron saint against plagues of locusts. Construction of the bullring began in 1902 but continued until the 1920s. During the Spanish Civil War, the bullring was opened in 1939 as part of the city's Franco concentration camp, which was intended to house a total of 9,000 internees.

Late afternoon in Huesca. Standing on the bell tower of the Huesca Cathedral. Below is the bullring. The tower was erected between 1369 and 1423, it lost it´s spire during the Spanish Civil War, but still is pretty high. A thunderstorm had approached Huesca much faster, than I had expected, when I still was on the ground. So I was not prepared and got pretty wet up there - and it was difficult for me to handle the camera.