TAUROMAQUIA

The State and the police are responsible for maintaining public order and citizens’ security. Their continuity depends on the social consensus regarding their actions. Recently, demonstrations and protests have become habitual places to exercise power and violence: social control mechanisms are set in motion to legitimize authoritarianism. The images of TAUROMAQUIA (TAUROMACHY) document various presentations that the police carried out in bullfighting arenas to audiences of schoolchildren. Computer screenshots present material that is available online. The result features images from several viewpoints: films made by the police, by local media, and by teachers. The incredible fervour of this national spectacle thus appears from multiple perspectives: from the children’s entrance into the arena, to the representation of a criminal’s execution. Julián Barón 2014