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For other uses, see Matador (disambiguation).

A matador ("killer") is the main performer in bullfighting events in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries. Also known as the torero (roughly "bull handler"), he or she is the person who taunts and finally kills the bull. The role is also called toreador in English (and in Bizet's opera Carmen), but this term is almost never used in Spain or in Latin America. One of the most famous matadors of all time was Juan Belmonte, whose technique in the ring revolutionised bullfighting and remains the standard by which matadors are judged to this day.

A matador is considered to be as much an artist as a competitor. The style and bravery of the matador is regarded as being at least as important as whether or not he actually kills the bull. The most successful matadors are often treated like pop stars, with cult followings and accompanied by lurid tabloid stories about their sexual conquests. The danger of bullfighting adds to the matador's mystique; matadors are often injured by bulls and more than 40 have been killed in the ring. One of the most famous bullfighters in history, Manolete, died this way in 1947. This hazard is said to be central to the nature and appeal of bullfighting.

The vast majority of matadors are men. In recent years, a number of women have become matadors, but this has been hugely controversial among aficionados and disparaged by many of the (male) matadors.

The American writer Ernest Hemingway aspired to be a matador. His novel The Sun Also Rises has autobiographical elements and includes bullfighting themes.

The term is also used in the sport of rodeo as a substitution for the less-dignified "rodeo clown".

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