Hence the discontent behind the matadors' strike.

ECONOMIST: Spain

The Miracles grew out of an earlier quintet of high school performers called the Five Chimes that formed in the mid-1950s and changed its name to the Matadors after several line-up changes capped by Claudette Rogers' admission to the group.

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He promoted the careers of the top matadors and saw that they fought only the best bulls.

ECONOMIST: Manolo Chopera

Clad in white, with a red kerchief, tourists and Spaniards sprint ahead of the charging bulls, which face matadors in the bullring later in the day.

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Fights on television, the advent of a new generation of populist matadors, the vaunting of Spanish tradition as the country grows more confident: all have brought people back to the bulls.

ECONOMIST: Not in front of the children

He owned Las Ventas in Madrid, perhaps the most important bullring in the world, which seats 25, 000 spectators with a box for royalty, and has an operating theatre for matadors who misjudge the bull's cunning and a small chapel for those beyond help.

ECONOMIST: Manolo Chopera

Blackpool's Charlie Adam has enjoyed a few seasons jousting with giants, and he came on for the second 45 for Lee McCulloch, whose efforts to keep in touch with the fluent Spanish midfield play resembled a thundering bull being teased by matadors.

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