36-year-old Ivan Fandiño was a renowned matador, known for his courage to face bulls dubbed too dangerous by others.
Unfortunately, his passion for bullfighting ultimately cost him his life.
In 2017, Fandiño, originally from the Basque country, was taking part in the Aire-sur-l’Adour bullfighting festival in southwest France.
At one point, the matador got tangled in his cloak and fell to the ground, resulting in him being gored by the half-ton bull.
When he was taken out of the ring, he bled heavily. Emergency services transported him to the hospital, but he had suffered a heart attack and died.
Reportedly, on the way to the hospital, Fandiño said, “Hurry up, I’m dying.”
Matador Juan del Alamo, who later killed the bull, said at the time: “I can’t believe it. None of us understand how it could have happened; it was all so fast. The bull knocked him down with its hindquarters and he fell face down.”
Prior the fatal incident, Fandiño had been injured twice during a bullfight. In 2015, he was thrown into the air by a bull in Spain, and a year later, he was left unconscious in Bayonne, France.
Fandiño was the first matador to die in France since 1921, when matador Isidoro Mari Fernando lost his life in the arena in Béziers.
The number of bulls losing their lives in these fights in France is around 1,000.
The Spanish royal family and prime minister honored Fandiño, with King Felipe saying he was a “great bullfighter figure.”
Bullfighting is considered a controversial and cruel practice. Back in 2010, the Catalan regional government in Barcelona voted for a ban, but the decision was overturned by the Spanish constitutional court in 2016, calling bullfighting a “cultural heritage.”
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