Bullfighting in Spain is a tradition as old as the society and animal cruelty isn’t an acceptable word in this context. Sadly, a matador has paid with his dear life for the bloody sport that thrills spectators who care less about animal lives.
In a video released online which shows the widely televised sport event around Spain, the unlucky bullfighter sustained a fatal wound to his chest after being gored by an angry bull in the arena.
He became the first to die in the ring after three decades of bullfighting events in Spain.
The matador was gored in front of horrified spectators during a corrida in the eastern town of Teruel.
Victor Barrio, 29, died Saturday evening (local time) of injuries to the chest after being struck by the horn of a bull weighing over 500 kilograms and tossed into the air. The 83 stone animal that killed him was called Lorenzo.
Other matadors rushed to the rescue, helping to distract the bull and lure him away while Barrio lay bleeding in the sand.
Victor Barrio, 29, was rushed unconscious to a field hospital by the bullring in Teruel, Spain, but died from his injuries.
The bullfight, part of the city’s annual festival called the Feria del Angel, was suspended as a result of the tragedy.
His death was the first of a matador this century in Spain in a bullring.
Two matadors died in the eighties, including the famous Francisco Rivera.
Two bandilleros, who plant little flags with barbed points in the top of the bull’s shoulders, were killed in the ring in 1992.
Barrio, who was born in Segovia an hour’s drive north west of Madrid, worked on a golf course before pursuing his dream of becoming a bullfighter.
He became a fully qualified bullfighter in 2012.
Fans of the blood sport took to Twitter on Saturday to offer their condolences to his family.
One wrote: “I cannot believe it. Victor Barrio has died after being gored in Teruel.
“My sincerest condolences to his family. He was a great person. Rest in peace.”
But Spaniard Isabel Garcia wrote on the matador’s Facebook: “It’s a terrible shame that such a young person has lost his life but if you put yourself in front of a bull to massacre it, the animal will defend itself.”
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