This red-brick, neo-Moorish building hosts big concerts and other events, including bullfighting. Below the stadium is a shopping centre, cinema and food court – and it's a popular destination all year long.
In the Portuguese version of bullfighting the animal is not killed publicly, though throughout the event theatrically dressed horsemen plant spears in the bull’s neck. During the final phase, or pega , eight forcados dressed in breeches and short jackets, face the weakened bull barehanded. The leader swaggers towards the bull, provoking it to charge. Bearing the brunt of the attack, he throws himself onto the animal’s head and grabs the horns while his mates rush in to grab the beast, often being tossed in all directions. Their success wraps up the contest and the cows are sent in to the arena to lure the bull out. Though Portuguese bullfighting rules prohibit a public kill, the animals are killed after the show by a professional butcher – you just don’t witness the final blow.
