You enter the stadium

You sit down in your seat and contemplate just what is going to happen right before your eyes

The ring: it measures sixty meters in diameter and has inside of that an alley of two meters and twenty centimeters in width. It is divided into so-called terrenos (terrains):

• Chiqueros or puerta de toriles (gate to the bullpen): gate from which the bull comes out.
• Barrera (Barrier): the timbers that surround the sand, called albero, since it is a type of sand that doesn't raise dust when treaded upon, which prevents unnecessary risks and any disillusionment of the festival.
• Rayas de picadores (picador lines): two concentric circumferences drawn in the albero. They mark the minimum distance that must exist between the horse and the bull in the third of lances.
• Tablas (boards): it is the area between the external circle and the barrier.
• Medio (center): the center area of the ring. It is the most dangerous area of the ring for the bullfighters since it is the farthest from the protection of the refuges.
• Los burladeros (the refuges): if you place yourself on the opposite side of the ring from the bullpen gate, you will be in the so called burladero de matadores. To the right is the burladero de primera suerte and to the left is the burladero de segunda suerte. Between matadors and primera suerte is where the suerte de varas is held.

The ring has five doors and three more for bullpens. The most important ones:

• The gate of cuadrillas (gangs), between spreads 3 and 4, gives access to the horses´ patio. Through this gate the paseíllo begins and the picadors enter the ring for the suerte de varas.
• The gate of arrastre (dragging) that drives to the slaughterhouse is between spreads one and two, and is the only entrance for the mulilleros and mulillas at the death of each bull.
• The famous Puerta Grande (Big Door) or Door of Madrid is between spreads seven and eight. Through it the alguacilillos enter to clean the ring and through it the bullfighters that perform glorious tasks are carried out of the ring on the shoulders of their peers.

The seating capacity: The ring is divided into ten sections crowned by grandstands, boxes and broadsides. Also, the whole stadium is divided in seats of sol (sun), sombra (shade) and sol y sombra (sun and shade), depending on whether you are protected or not from the heat and the blindness of the sun. Logically, the seats located in the shade will be much more expensive even if they are in the same row as those in the sun.

• The stadium is divided in ten parts


• Bajos (lows) have three first rows called barrier, counter barrier and leading, and above fourteen rows
• Los altos: (highs) have a leading row and twelve more rows


• Las gradas(highs) have a leading row and twelve more rows
• Las andanadas (broadsides) also have a leading row and six more rows
• Of the twenty-eight boxes (comprised of fifteen seats each):
  
  
  • one is dedicated to the presidency of the bullfight. In it sits the President (the authority that directs the show), the Civil Governor, the Mayor, the Adviser and the Shift Veterinarian.
  • Outstanding is the royal box or main box, of arabesque architecture, which has a cantilevered balcony over the last rows. It consists of box and antebox, with a complete toilet room and elevators that ascend from the lateral entrance of the stadium, through the Gate of Authorities. The clock is installed in front of the royal box in the tejadillo of the fifth broadside.