The Alicante Bullring was inaugurated in 1848 and has been in operation since then. It is considered one of the oldest in the Valencian community.
In 1888, an important reform was carried out, bringing the capacity of the arena to 18,000 seats. This was impressive, as Alicante had only 16,000 inhabitants at that time, which in itself highlights the enormous importance of bullfighting within that society.
As a curious fact, the Alicante Bullring has had to mourn the death of only one bullfighter. In 1911, the right-handed Sevillian Manuel Díaz died after being gored by Faccioso, a bull from the Flores ranch.
One of the great attractions of this arena is that it houses the headquarters of the popular Bullfighting Museum, which exhibits an important collection of bullfighting, its history and its origins. It also has an interesting permanent exhibition of great bullfighting figures from Alicante such as Vicente Blau, Francisco Antón, José María Manzanares and Luis Francisco Esplá.
In addition to bullfighting, this bullring has served as the setting for a large number of concerts, political events and sporting events of great importance, including the final of the 1952 Basketball Generalissimo Cup and the semifinal of the Davis Cup in 2004.
What to see in Alicante