The Prague Post - Little-known bullfighting tradition lives on in UAE village

EUR -
AED 4.243687
AFN 80.258579
ALL 97.948265
AMD 440.592197
ANG 2.067962
AOA 1058.465478
ARS 1362.804464
AUD 1.778285
AWG 2.082842
AZN 1.968988
BAM 1.955765
BBD 2.322859
BDT 140.58751
BGN 1.96051
BHD 0.433992
BIF 3425.439333
BMD 1.15553
BND 1.477574
BOB 7.949859
BRL 6.406145
BSD 1.15048
BTN 98.998247
BWP 15.463726
BYN 3.764933
BYR 22648.378878
BZD 2.310959
CAD 1.569961
CDF 3324.458889
CHF 0.938796
CLF 0.027884
CLP 1070.051049
CNY 8.298556
CNH 8.307576
COP 4778.715365
CRC 579.88973
CUC 1.15553
CUP 30.621533
CVE 110.263047
CZK 24.84493
DJF 204.866372
DKK 7.461301
DOP 67.948797
DZD 150.258339
EGP 57.438983
ERN 17.332943
ETB 155.208151
FJD 2.59792
FKP 0.850086
GBP 0.852443
GEL 3.166602
GGP 0.850086
GHS 11.84979
GIP 0.850086
GMD 81.469282
GNF 9968.823444
GTQ 8.840843
GYD 240.695737
HKD 9.070231
HNL 30.026468
HRK 7.537177
HTG 150.877328
HUF 402.707866
IDR 18834.322544
ILS 4.183484
IMP 0.850086
INR 99.58874
IQD 1507.073308
IRR 48647.793814
ISK 144.037202
JEP 0.850086
JMD 184.196738
JOD 0.819316
JPY 166.518785
KES 148.637368
KGS 101.051502
KHR 4612.918301
KMF 492.837731
KPW 1039.948197
KRW 1579.771091
KWD 0.353847
KYD 0.958683
KZT 590.089549
LAK 24822.560372
LBP 103080.774354
LKR 344.473899
LRD 230.095925
LSL 20.704233
LTL 3.411979
LVL 0.698969
LYD 6.285889
MAD 10.518914
MDL 19.701651
MGA 5194.907994
MKD 61.53391
MMK 2425.72657
MNT 4133.999506
MOP 9.301035
MRU 45.673191
MUR 52.588586
MVR 17.800977
MWK 1994.864669
MXN 21.898152
MYR 4.905805
MZN 73.89655
NAD 20.704233
NGN 1782.335411
NIO 42.33925
NOK 11.454538
NPR 158.397195
NZD 1.920457
OMR 0.444022
PAB 1.15048
PEN 4.152526
PGK 4.805915
PHP 64.814084
PKR 326.153924
PLN 4.273513
PYG 9179.837417
QAR 4.196726
RON 5.027136
RSD 117.197924
RUB 92.187067
RWF 1661.270578
SAR 4.337388
SBD 9.645657
SCR 16.420505
SDG 693.899733
SEK 10.959036
SGD 1.481278
SHP 0.908065
SLE 25.479855
SLL 24230.880068
SOS 657.488355
SRD 43.364756
STD 23917.128362
SVC 10.066822
SYP 15023.749872
SZL 20.690634
THB 37.444978
TJS 11.619594
TMT 4.044353
TND 3.40414
TOP 2.70637
TRY 45.531654
TTD 7.801862
TWD 34.111657
TZS 2973.947329
UAH 47.720955
UGX 4145.926572
USD 1.15553
UYU 47.299162
UZS 14617.741108
VES 118.057029
VND 30130.432615
VUV 138.103265
WST 3.030441
XAF 655.945383
XAG 0.031814
XAU 0.000336
XCD 3.122877
XDR 0.815786
XOF 655.945383
XPF 119.331742
YER 281.198532
ZAR 20.713272
ZMK 10401.156591
ZMW 27.812507
ZWL 372.080039
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Little-known bullfighting tradition lives on in UAE village
Little-known bullfighting tradition lives on in UAE village

Little-known bullfighting tradition lives on in UAE village

Far from Dubai's gleaming skyscrapers and renowned camel races, a bullfight is under way in the emirate of Fujairah, where the tradition continues unbeknown to most in the United Arab Emirates.

Text size:

"Look at them fight!" a commentator shouts into a microphone as the first bovine battle of the day kicks off, sending up clouds of dust in the village of Al-Qurayyah.

Two bulls, each weighing in at hundreds of kilograms (pounds), charge at each other while assistants hold ropes attached to their necks or legs for safety.

Sometimes the huge animals come dangerously close to the spectators, sending them fleeing from their chairs.

About 200 men, women and children are gathered in a large field to watch, with children perched on the roofs of 4X4 vehicles and pick-ups.

Trucks carrying bulls have converged from all over the region on the arena, a dirt field wedged between rocky mountains and the Gulf of Oman.

About 50 of the beasts are scattered around, and their bellowing echoes across the area.

"There are no rules," explained Issa, 34, whose family owns a nearby farm and has been involved in bullfighting for decades.

"The winner is the one that shows the most courage and doesn't run away," added the man whose nephews stream the bouts on TikTok and Instagram.

In the better-known emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, camel beauty contests and races are popular, but "here it is the bullfights", said Majid, 36, whose animal scored a draw in the fight.

- Cruel and abusive? -

Unlike the bullfights popular in Spain and Mexico, where the animals are typically slain by matadors, in Fujairah two beasts go head-to-head with far less fatal consequences.

The competition typically ends after about an hour, with each fight lasting just one or two minutes.

Animal welfare groups have however denounced the sport as cruel and abusive.

Elsayed Mohamed, the regional director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, argued that just because something has been part of a society for so long does not make it right.

"Every culture has many bad traditions, but because it's a tradition, we have to follow?" he asked, noting that animal fights are prohibited under UAE law.

Those who promote the fights, he said, argue that "it is 'not a bloody' competition... comparing these fights to the ones in Spain that end with the killing of the animal.

"Even if they are taking precautions to prevent any harm, wounds will happen," said Mohamed.

Standing in the audience at the recent bullfight event was a German tourist couple who had learnt about it in an "alternative tourist guide book".

"We thought it would be interesting to see that -- it's unusual for us," said Gunter Beelitz, who works in theatre.

"This is a bit like the fights in Spain except that here it is just one bull against one bull and not a man," he said. "And the bull doesn't die. We don't like the Spanish bullfights."

- Family tradition -

The bulls were once imported from South Asia for agricultural work, but the emergence of new technologies has rendered them obsolete to farming.

Issa's family breed the animals or buy them for between 5,000 and 40,000 dirhams (about $1,360 to $10,900).

With help from a number of farm employees he readied about 17 beasts to fight every Friday after prayers.

He said he has been preparing bulls for battle since he was "just a child".

"We go to the animals, we check if they are okay... we take their temperatures and we feed them," he said.

He rolled up his sleeves and dipped his arm into a large pot of bovine powerfood -- a boiled mixture of wheat, dates, herbs and fish.

"This is what gives the bulls their strength," said Issa, clad in a traditional Emirati "kandoura", an ankle-length shirt.

Issa and his family said they have no intention of ending the pastime that has been passed down from generation to generation.

"People did not have much to do, and they would get the animals and get them to fight, a form of entertainment," said Issa.

"It would bring people together," he continued, adding that he plans to pass the practice down to his six children.

A.Novak--TPP