Spring Bullrings Tour

If you are in Andalusia in spring and want to see a corrida, the dates that usually hold are Seville at Easter and the April Fair, Cordoba and Jerez in May, and Sanlucar de Barrameda at the end of May or in early June. The four towns are close enough for a car or a train. They do not feel the same in a plaza. Choose the fair that matches your stay; there is no circuit to complete.

More on each place: Seville, Cordoba, Cadiz and Sanlucar. Other bullfight pages cover summer, Malaga, Huelva, Jaen and the Corpus Christi tour. A wider list of Andalusian fairs is useful if you are planning around fiestas rather than rings.

*Easter moves the April Fair. Jerez and Cordoba sit in May; Sanlucar’s Manzanilla fair often slips into early June. Confirm each poster.

Bullring in Andalusia

Seville

The Real Maestranza still opens the Spanish season. Easter Sunday is the first afternoon. The April Fair is the dense week that follows, when a triumph here can carry a name for years. The public is dry. The silences in that ring are part of the afternoon, not a failure of atmosphere.

May and June are quieter: a few extra dates and novilladas (afternoons with younger bulls and matadors who have not yet taken the full rank). That is not a fight every Sunday, and it is not the Feria de San Miguel, which closes the Seville year in late September. Heat in those mid-season seats is real; a third-full plaza on a June Sunday is for local aficionados, not a tourist show.

When: Easter Sunday through the April Fair; extra dates in May. Detail: Seville bullrings.

Map: Real Maestranza

Also in Seville province in spring:

Ecija — May window. Map
Constantina — sierra dates that sometimes fall in March. Map
Herrera — March fair. Map

Cordoba

Cordoba’s ring is called Los Califas — “the Caliphs”. The name honours five bullfighters born in the province who marked the Spanish 19th and 20th centuries. The best-known to a visitor is Manuel Rodriguez, “Manolete” (1917–1947): a spare, serious style, enormous fame, and a death in the ring at Linares that is still part of the city’s memory. The other four — Lagartijo, Guerrita, Machaquito and El Cordobes — are local names the plaza was built to carry. A later Cordoban, Finito, belongs to that line; the city does not crown a new “caliph” each May.

Los Califas opened on 9 May 1965 and replaced an older ring. It is a first-category plaza: one of the official top rank in Spain, below only a handful of names such as Madrid and Seville. The city fair, Nuestra Senora de la Salud, falls in May. In 2026 the bullfights are spread across two weekends in mid and late May (roughly 15–24 May), not a single packed week. The public is quiet and demanding.

The ring is not the museum. The Museo Taurino sits in the Juderia, the old Jewish quarter, at Plaza Maimonides 5. It shows suits, posters and the story of those Cordoban fighters — including the bull that killed Manolete. A statue of Manolete stands elsewhere in the city. Both are a morning visit if you do not want an afternoon in the seats.

When: May, Feria de la Salud. Town page: Cordoba.

Map: Los Califas · Museum: Plaza Maimonides 5

Also in Cordoba province:

Lucena — May. Map
Cabra — May, and again in September. Map

Jerez de la Frontera

Jerez hangs its best afternoons on the Feria del Caballo, a week in May declared of international tourist interest. In 2026 the civic fair runs 9–16 May; the bullfights sit inside that week at the plaza on Calle Circo. The old line “end of April and beginning of May” is the window in years when Easter is early. The horse, the sherry and the ring share the same days. That mix is the point of coming here instead of staying in Seville.

The public here has a reputation for watching how the bull is fought — the cape work and the pacing — rather than counting trophies. Book the horse fair and the plaza together, or you will spend the afternoon looking for a parking space.

When: Feria del Caballo, May.

Map: Jerez bullring

Also in Cadiz province in spring:

Ubrique — April. Map
Villaluenga del Rosario — April. Map

Sanlucar de Barrameda

Sanlucar’s spring is two appointments at El Pino, not one. The Corrida de la Primavera falls in April (rejones in 2026, on 11 April). The Feria de la Manzanilla is the town fair: late May in some years, early June in others. In 2026 it runs 2–7 June, with a novillada and a corrida at the end of that week. “End of May or beginning of July” mixes the Manzanilla with a different date. July is not this fair.

The town sits on the Guadalquivir opposite Donana. Manzanilla, river light and a short cartel are the character of the afternoon. A long line of local matadors has come from here; do not freeze the list on one surname.

When: April (Primavera) and late May / early June (Manzanilla). Town page: Sanlucar de Barrameda.

Map: El Pino, Sanlucar

How to follow the spring route

Seville, Cordoba and Jerez are a triangle of motorway and rail. Sanlucar is the extra half hour west of Jerez, on the river. A car is the clean way to see two fairs in one week. A transfer is enough if you are only going to the April Fair and flying out of Malaga or Seville.

Car hire: the flexible option

Seville to Cordoba is about 90 minutes. Cordoba to Jerez is longer; Jerez to Sanlucar is short. Useful if the posters fall in the same fortnight.

Hire a car at Malaga Airport

Taxi or private transfer

Door to a Seville or Jerez hotel from Malaga Airport or the Costa del Sol. Book early around Easter and the first days of each fair.

Book a transfer

*No credit-card details are required to request a quote. Easter Sunday in Seville and the Horse Fair weekends in Jerez fill first.

Other options

Trains link Malaga, Cordoba and Seville. Buses cover Jerez and Sanlucar from Seville. After a 19:00 corrida the last connection back to the Costa del Sol is the risk. Sleep in the town you are watching.

Practical tips

Do not try Seville, Cordoba and Jerez in three consecutive afternoons. One fair plus one museum day is a better trip.
Sombra in Seville and Cordoba is worth the money in May. Jerez in the same month is no cooler.
The Cordoba museum and the Manolete statue are the morning; Los Califas is the evening.
Jerez is a horse fair that happens to hold corridas. If you only want the ring, you will miss why the town is full.
Sanlucar’s Manzanilla dates move. Check June as well as May before you lock a hotel.
A corrida is a blood spectacle. The empty Maestranza, Los Califas from outside, and the museum in the Juderia cover the culture without a ticket.

Frequently asked questions about spring bullfights

Do I need to visit all four towns?

No. Match the town to the week you are already here. Seville is Easter and April, Cordoba and Jerez are May, Sanlucar is late May or early June. One fair is a trip; four is only a calendar.

Are there fights every Sunday in Seville from June?

No. After the April Fair the diary thins out. You may find a novillada — a fight with younger bulls — but it is not a weekly fixture. The next named fair in Seville is San Miguel, in late September.

Who was Manolete, and is Los Califas the ring where he fought?

Manolete was Cordoba’s most famous matador. He died in 1947 after a goring in Linares, in Jaen province. Los Califas is not that ring: it opened in 1965, almost twenty years later. The bullfighting museum in the Juderia (the old Jewish quarter) tells his story; the statue in the city is the public memorial.

Is the Jerez Horse Fair always in late April?

It sits in May more often than April. In 2026 the civic fair is 9–16 May. When Easter is early the window can start in late April. Read that year’s dates.

Is the Manzanilla Fair in July?

No. It is late May or early June (2–7 June in 2026). Sanlucar also holds a spring corrida in April and a separate Magallanica date in August.

How far is this route from Malaga?

Seville is about two hours. Cordoba is a similar run inland. Jerez is west of Seville; Sanlucar is beyond Jerez on the river. A train covers Seville and Cordoba; the last two towns are easier by car.