Bull with flaming balls of wax attached to head fatally gores man in eastern Spain

[Elyse]

MADRID - A flaming-horned bull trampled and fatally gored a man early Saturday during a festival in eastern Spain, an official said.

Large balls of flaming wax are traditionally affixed to the beasts' heads before they are let loose to rampage through squares and narrow streets in such festivals.

The mayor of Navajas, population 730, said emergency services in his town were unable to save the life of the 45-year-old man whose name was withheld. Jose Vicente Torres said the accident happened when the man, who had travelled from Alboraia, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) to the south, tripped just as the bull was released.

Torres said the bull charged the man, gored him and then stamped on his head, causing him "irreversible injuries." He said he had offered his condolences to the man's family, but would not cancel similar events scheduled for early Sunday.

"Although ours is a small town, many people from outside come to visit our feast dedicated to Saint Anton," Torres said, adding that black bows had been tied to town hall flags as a mark of respect and mourning.

Many towns in east and northeastern Spain celebrate feasts with "toros embolados," or "flaming bulls," which feature the animals racing around and shaking their heads as a reaction to flames or fireworks attached to or close to their horns. At these regional festivals, flaming-horned bulls are taunted and teased by rowdy crowds in bullrings, town squares or down streets. Unlike with most other events involving bulls, the animals aren't killed in the end.

The regional parliament of northeastern Catalonia banned bullfighting in July 2010 following a signature-collection campaign by animal rights activists. The ban took effect Jan. 1. But the region then passed other legislation protecting flaming bulls, called "correbous" in the Catalan language. Many critics said banning one act while enshrining the other in law was hypocrisy.

I don't know what's worse.

The fact that the bull killed a man, the fact that they don't care enough to stop the shows, or the fact that they kill the bulls after the shows.

[mydiamond]

.... I'm speechless. This "tradition" should be banned.

[Rosemary]

This is so barbaric - how people can justify bullfighting is beyond me. I have no sympathy for anyone injured or killed by a bull - none whatsoever.

I would never visit Spain solely because of bullfighting, and to say it is a cultural 'thing' is ludicrous. Arrgghhh

[Tams Teeko and Keeta]

Barbaric....yups. Culture and tradition.....sadly yups.

Alot of bullfighting is now solely showmanship but there are still plenty of bullrings that use spears.

Do I feel sad for the mans family? Yeps. But really, if you are going to stand in a street with bulls that have literally had their heads set on fire.....then surely you've got to be prepared for the risk. I mean, how many people die every year at the running of the bulls? So, nopes, I dont think the rest of the festivals should be cancelled.

[flyingspanner]

Feel so sorry for the bulls.

Couldn't care less about the dead man

[robke]

Feel so sorry for the bulls.

Couldn't care less about the dead man

Totally agree with you there...

[stormchaser09]

these guys know the risks before they start, unfortunately the poor animals they are torturing have no choice so I'm afraid I have no sympathy for anyone injured or killed either.

[naomiJayne]

Feel so sorry for the bulls.

Couldn't care less about the dead man

nothing else needs saying.

[persephona]

It's their tradition, I don't think we are the ones to say whether it should be banned or not.

If they are fine being on the same street with a raging bull, then let them be. If they want to get it banned, then let them say so, but it doesn't really seem that the Spanish intend to stop this any time soon, so it's their own business.

It's not that they don't care, but that man put himself in the same place with a crazy bull and nobody made him do so. As far as I am concerned, I don't see anything wrong with this, it was his choice. I am sure he was well aware of what could happen, after all it happens every year that people get killed by bulls. But as I said, if they wanted to stay safe, then they wouldn't go out in the streets during this festival.

I actually went to a bullfighting show in Barcelona before it was all banned, but I really don't see what's so bad about them. The bulls are sedated anyway when let out and the risk to the bullfighters is minor. Come to think of it, those bulls would have been killed anyway in an abattoir at some point in their life.

If don't think it's really fair to critique other countries traditions, then there will be no cultural identity left anywhere. Because all traditions are inhumane, cruel, not adhering to health and safety etc. This happened here as well, we've had several traditions/customs be banned because of health and safety and so on. It is easy for others to say things like "that's so inhumane" but remember that you've not had the same upbringing as those people there. What seems outrageous to you is usual to them, it's just a different culture; that doesn't necessarily make it wrong.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

poor bulls

[irene]

This is so barbaric - how people can justify bullfighting is beyond me. I have no sympathy for anyone injured or killed by a bull - none whatsoever.

I would never visit Spain solely because of bullfighting, and to say it is a cultural 'thing' is ludicrous. Arrgghhh

ditto ...rosemary ..you said it for me as well ..