Here's the Beef

The bull is at the end of his tether — literally. Dragging a clutch of noisy young men on the end of a long rope and harried through the streets of Gaucín, the reluctant star of the traditional Andalucian bull-running festival singles out a man in the crowd, lowers his head and charges.

His target evades the attack with insouciant grace. Excited onlookers identify the amateur torero as a manager from the Casablanca Hotel, a sombrero's throw away. The boutique retreat is a haven where attentive staff just as skilfully deflect the challenges of everyday life from blissed-out...