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Posted on 08/15/2025 12:11:26 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Spain already has symbols that travel the world – from flamenco to paella – but a colossal metal bull, at least 300 metres tall, is now being touted as the nation’s next global calling card.
The idea comes from the Spanish Academy of Bullfighting, which wants the sculpture – working title ‘El Toro de España‘ – to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the great tourist icons. More than 30 towns and provinces have put a hand up to host it. One of them has sprinted to the front.
Where the giant bull could rise: El Molar’s pitch
The early frontrunner is El Molar, a small municipality just north of Madrid on the A-1 motorway. Its tourism councillor, Fernando Hernández, says he was baffled the capital region hadn’t thrown its hat in. ‘Our town fits,’ he argues – pointing out that a bull appears on El Molar’s coat of arms and that local fiestas already include traditional encierros.
City hall has even earmarked a plot at the entrance to town, a site where plans for a business park stalled two decades ago. From there, Hernández claims, a 300-metre bull would be visible from the A-1 – and, on a clear day, from Madrid’s skyline itself, much like locals in El Molar watch the capital’s Four Towers.
Crucially, the councillor says the land belongs to a group of private owners, which could speed up permits by avoiding a change of land use. The Academy has confirmed that El Molar is currently the only candidate in the Madrid region, though the final say would still rest with regional authorities and President Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s government.
Tourism promise: shops, jobs and a year-round crowd
Backers insist the bull would not stand alone on its plinth. The Academy’s concept places restaurants, souvenir shops and cultural spaces “at the bull’s feet”, creating a mini-district pitched squarely at visitors. The aim, they say, is simple: guarantee footfall by planting the statue where tourists already pass in big numbers, then spread the spend locally through new jobs and small-business licences.
For El Molar, a commuter town with easy motorway access, that sounds like rocket fuel. Hernández talks of a “shot of work and tourism” the project could bring, from hospitality to construction and maintenance. It’s the same logic behind other bids arriving from Burgos, Guadalajara and beyond: build it large enough, make it visible enough, and coach tours will follow.
The snags: politics, planning and a fierce culture row
None of this is a done deal. Even supporters concede the project will have to run the gauntlet of planning, environmental studies and transport safety rules – no small task for something taller than most skyscrapers. And then there’s the politics. Hernández, who represents Vox locally, laments that proposals are sometimes judged by who suggests them rather than on their merits. He points out that Parisians loathed the Eiffel Tower before it became a postcard; opponents reply that a giant bull is inseparable from bullfighting, and therefore a non-starter.
That cultural fault line is the sharpest obstacle. Animal-welfare groups and anti-bullfighting campaigners will reject the idea outright, while fans argue the sculpture celebrates a centuries-old identity without harming an animal. Somewhere between the two sits the hard maths: who pays, how it is maintained, and what guarantees exist if the crowds don’t come in the numbers promoters expect.
The race to host Spain’s would-be Eiffel Tower has begun, and El Molar has taken the inside lane. The Academy wants a landmark that can be seen for miles, local leaders want jobs and visitors, and critics want Spain to look beyond the bull. Whether the country gets a 300-metre steel icon or just a very loud argument, this is one debate you’ll be seeing – possibly from the A-1.
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It might become their Hollywood sign. But no more.
All I know is if you milk a bull you got a friend for Life
There are, already this date, hundreds of such silhouettes across Spain.
None admittedly 300 meters. But many hundreds.
Go for it. /no public money, no government prophets.
r/AskHistorians
6 yr. ago
UncleBazzyBen
Is there a link between modern bull fighting in Spain and the Cult of Mithras?
I have read in a few places, mainly William H. Desmonde’s The Bull-Fight as a Religious Ritual, that there may be a link between the iconography of the cult of Mithras and modern bull-fighting in Spain. Does anyone have any evidence or knowledge of this link? It would be really interesting to establish a link between an ancient non-Christian religion and a modern sport in a country as historically diverse as Spain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tauroctony
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfighting#History
https://bullbalcony.com/blogs/news/history-of-bullfighting
[snip] The exact origins of bullfighting are debated, but one thing is certain: Spain’s fascination with bulls is not a recent phenomenon. In fact, bulls have played an important role in the culture of the Iberian peninsula since before recorded history, with Paleolithic rock art from over 30,000 years ago depicting aurochs, the wild ancestors of modern bulls. [/snip]
and here, a one line comment regarding the Minoans’ bull-leaping as portrayed in a fresco at Knossos, restored of course by Arthur Evans.
https://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/showthread.php?tid=13342
Minoan bull-leaping:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull-leaping
Put it up in Times Square. It will match the big fat cow that went up recently.
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