The Bull by the Bay

Some call it the God of rain and storm... Others chase it for selfies, but we didn’t want to let it go.

- Sarmad Kadiri

I OFTEN WONDERED WHY SO many Spanish people still participate in the seemingly insane 14th-century sport of encierro (the running of the bulls)? What’s so fascinating about being chased, and sometimes trampled, by a bunch of raging bulls? All it took me to find an answer was one small encounter with another bull... A bull named Huracán.

It’s a whole gamut of feelings... Of fear and excitement topped with shots of adrenaline and pride. Often one tries to look cool and secretly hopes not to wet the pants. All the fuss is about one single moment: that moment when the Spanish lads escape the blurry animal’s horns. And, in my context, my moment was when the mid-engine Lamborghini shifts up with a blip, breaking the three-digit barrier in seconds and the force slams me down into the bucket-seat.

That is the exact moment when one feels alive. That is probably why adventure sport and scarily fast sports cars like this one are such a rage. Both scrub off the mundane from our lives and inject a shot of much-needed excitement.

As the Huracán growls past slow moving traffic, it always lights up the eyes of people all around, their jaws dropping slowly in awe of the sports car’s stealth-like profile. One can debate from dusk to dawn if it’s as radically appealing as some of its predecessors, but it still looks every bit a Lamborghini. From its wedged design, shark-like nose and a set of A-pillars almost running parallel to the road, it’s got Sant’Agata Bolognese stamped all over. Every crease, cut or contour has just one function — to make the Huracán go faster through air.