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Bullfighting traces its roots to prehistoric bull worship and sacrifice. Bullfighting is often linked to Rome, where many human-versus-animal events were held. In Spain religious festivities and royal weddings were celebrated by fights in the local plaza, where noblemen would ride competing for royal favor, and the populace enjoyed the excitement. The Spanish introduced the practice of fighting on foot around 1726.

A more indigenous genre of bullfighting is widely common in the Provence and Languedoc areas of France, and is known alternately as "course libre" or "course camarguaise". This is a bloodless spectacle (for the bulls) in which the objective is to snatch a rosette from the head of a young bull. 

Bull-leaping in Crete was a complex and dangerous acrobatic game during which young menwould perform spectacular leaps on the back of running bulls.

On holiday in Spain back in the early 80's I was once drawn to an arena where I thought a pageant was being held... it turned out to be a bullfight :~((

Not a nice thing to see, but luckily it's on the decline in Spain :

Bullfighting in provinces of Spain in the 19th century, when bullfights were promoted by the governments as national symbol.

Bullfighting in provinces of Spain at 2010, exceptions should be noted as the area of Pamplona in northern, with major bullfighting.
In 1991, the Canary Islands became the first Spanish Autonomous Community to ban bullfighting and Catalonia will become the second Spanish Autonomous Community to ban bullfighting in January 2012.