Barcelona's bullrings

Barcelona’s declaration as an anti-bullfighting city put an end to bullfights and opened the door to new ideas for the two bullrings that had hosted them, Las Arenas and La Monumental. Both were built in the traditional Neo-Mudéjar style and, given their historical value, they have kept their outward appearance while serving the city in a new way.

La Monumental, built in 1914, was originally called the El Sport bullring. It held more people than Las Arenas, 19,582 spectators, a capacity that was later increased to 24,000. In 1977 it became the only working bullring in the city. On 28 June 2010 bullfighting was abolished in Catalonia, when the Catalan Parliament voted to ban it because of its cruelty. In any case, interest in it had already declined considerably by then.

Today the building houses ‘El Museo Taurino de Barcelona’ (the Barcelona Bullfighting Museum), one of the most complete museums devoted to bullfighting, displaying old posters, famous bullfighters’ costumes, bulls’ heads, photographs, historical documents, a library and other objects connected with the activity. Music and circus shows are still held there too. As a curiosity, the Balañá family, who own the bullring, were in talks with the Emir of Qatar to sell it and convert it into the third-largest mosque in the world, after those of Mecca and Medina. The mega-mosque project, which came to nothing, would have held around 40,000 people and had a 300-metre minaret.

Address: Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 749, 08013 Barcelona

The Las Arenas bullring dates from 1900 and was built to increase the capacity of the existing bullring in Barceloneta, El Torín, a small ring demolished in 1944 that stood where Gas Natural’s headquarters is now. Las Arenas was built by the architect August Font i Carreras and held 14,893 people. The ring was 52 metres in diameter, and it was one of the best bullrings in Spain, although it also hosted other kinds of social and sporting events.

The last bullfight was held there in 1977, and for thirty years the bullring lay abandoned until, in 2011, it opened as a shopping centre, keeping the façade, which is held up by huge pillars.

Address: Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 373-385, 08015 Barcelona