The amphitheatres they were constructions from ancient Rome used to host shows and games (munera , gladiator fights and venationes , animal fight). Among the most famous, and that we can still see today, we have the Colosseum in Rome, the amphitheater in Tarraco, the one in Mérida and the amphitheater in El Djem (Tunisia).
In Madrid, as far as I know, there is none... if we talk about the construction itself . But there was a time, in 1849, when Madrid witnessed the show of animal fights in an improvised amphitheater... the bullring (which must have been, due to the dates, the Plaza de Toros de la Puerta de Alcalá). To demonstrate that the bull, our native animal, was invincible, on May 12, 1849 he faced the bull «Señorito ”, from the ranch of José Bermúdez, with a Bengal tiger… In three minutes, Señorito had killed the tiger .
Not content with this, they decided on the most difficult yet… They would pit a bull against a lion and a tiger. So that the show would not last so little time, they tested the fierceness of the lion, called Julio , with a steer and, later, three dogs which he defeated . On August 12, and with the previous fight between a hyena and several dogs as openers , they went out to the plaza Caramelo , red and bragado, and poor Julio who at the first attacks of the bull crouched against the bars of the cage. How they liked the show , they decided to take out the tiger, with the same result... both felines cornered and Caramelo charging left and right . Taking advantage of Caramelo's pull, a bullfight was organized in September where, after goring three horses, he was pardoned.
Sources and image:Spain 1790-1900:society and economic conditions – Germán Rueda, A los toros, Amazon