The third section, 'Tradition: The

The third section, 'Tradition: The bulls and regional identity', examines in much greater ethnographic detail the entire regional fiesta cycle of taurine games, concluding that the cycle itself is a metaphor for 'the Spains'. In the end, this ethnography is not really about bullfights but about the relationship between the meanings of los toros within different regions and within Spain. The bulls in other words are symbols of Spain and for Spain. Whether they stand for tradition or modernity, the Left or the Right, local or national, proor anti-European Union, it is through los toros that discussions about the history and future of Spain take place. Would Spain exist without the bulls? Of course. But this is not the point. The author makes a convincing case for the power of symbols in debates over national identity as well as for understanding the reasons why bullfights are currently on the increase in Spain. Beyond its analysis of los toros, this book contains useful insights which may be mined for understanding current tensions and ambiguities between elite and popular views of the European Union and the creation of new powerful regional political entities.

There is one significant problem. We hear very few voices from people talking about supposedly deeply entrenched categories of moral and cultural identity. We have to take for granted the author's assertion that these divisions are indeed a constant part of everyday discourse in Spain and that it is the Spaniards themselves, rather than the anthropologist, who are the 'true structuralists' (p.8).