'Everyone is entitled to do what they want, and they have to respect what we are doing in the arena, just as we respect what the demonstrators are doing outside,' she says.

'But our show is not aimless, because there is an aim - the preservation of bulls. I am a protector of animals. I get my passion for touradas from knowing that I am helping to preserve bulls.' Ms Manuela stresses that she does not actually kill the bulls herself. In Portuguese bullfighting, unlike that of Spain and Mexico, the fight is not to the death.

Bulls are escorted from the ring alive and meet their fate in the local slaughterhouse. Based on certain criteria, only the bravest few - selected by a special jury and the audience - are spared to become worthy breeders of future generations, improving the gene pool.

To leave the bulls to their own devices would be a disaster, claims Rui Salvador, one of the key organisers of this event and a bullfighter himself.

'They would fight each other to the point of exhaustion and kill each other anyway,' he says. 'So touradas are in fact natural. The only difference is that the bulls fight with humans instead of other bulls.' Macau, however, does not have breeding facilities, so all 24 bulls flown in specially for the tourada will end up on plates in the enclave's restaurants, an outcome which, Ms Manuela admits, goes against all her principles.

'I would feel more comfortable if facilities in Macau allowed for the breeding of bulls,' she says.

Escorted by a team of about 200, Ms Manuela is one of seven Portuguese bullfighters who will participate in a series of five touradas which began yesterday and will run until October 5 in a purpose-built 5,000-seat bamboo arena opposite the Lisboa hotel and casino.

Privately financed by individuals passionate about bullfighting and maintaining Portuguese tradition, the aim is to bring Portuguese culture to Macau.

'Our aim is to promote Portuguese tradition in Macau. Those who demonstrate against our show do not understand that there are good intentions behind it,' says Mr Salvador, who took part in last year's fights and is responsible for bringing Ms Manuela to Macau this time.

Ms Manuela insists she is not in the profession for the financial rewards. 'Bullfighters in Portugal cannot be rich and I don't come from a wealthy background at all, as both my parents are farmers,' she says.

'But I am proud, because women are usually considered fragile and I have shown that women can overcome that fragility.' Being a woman in a male-dominated profession can be an advantage, because the audience has more sympathy for her, she says. In the 12th century, the tourada was used to prepare noblemen on horseback for battle, with a bull, a naturally aggressive animal, representing the adversary. It was not intended for women at all.

That era has passed. In the bullring today, Ms Manuela will wear her extravagant casaca, a garment worn 700 years ago by Portuguese noblemen as the uniform of the cavaleiros.

Brought up on a farm in a Catholic household not far from the Portuguese capital Lisbon, Ms Manuela is deeply religious and still prays before every fight. She says her love for animals has grown over the years. She lives close to her parents in a house in Costa Da Caparica, her home town, with an array of animals that she has adopted, including abandoned dogs, ducks, horses and birds.

'Even though I don't know how to cook for myself, I will always cook for my animals,' she says.

Her father first taught her how to ride at the age of four. By the age of 12, she was already training to be a bullfighter on horseback and now she is returning the favour to others.

When she has time off from her six hours a day of training, she teaches riding to children and adults on private farms in Portugal.

But Ms Manuela is kept busy taking part in more than 20 shows a year, mostly in Portugal but also in Spain, Canada, the United States and now Macau.

Despite her 12 years of experience, she is always frightened when going into a new show. 'I feel fear every time, but it is something that I have to conquer on the spot,' she says.

She says she is fortunate that she has only been injured three times in her career. 'I was injured seriously once when a horse fell on top of me, and the other two times I only suffered minor injuries.' Undeterred by the dangers that come with what she describes as her 'art', she says: 'I will carry on for as long as the audience continues to respect my way of touradas. My goal is to attain the highest level of perfection in horse-schooling.'