For an animal lover, bullfighting is barbaric. Simple. But it is enmeshed into the culture of Spain. The majority of Spanish people are against it but major bullfights still attract big audiences. The Spanish are often keen hunters too which can lead to conservation issues. Example: the Iberian lynx almost made extinct partly because hunters hunted the rabbit upon which the lynx survived.
Spain’s most celebrated matador, Jose Antonio Morante de la Puebla was gored in his rectum at a bullfight in Seville.
Jose had to endure two hours of rectal surgery after the Seville bullfight injury. It seems that he was adored by the crowd, and the goring came at the height of a triumphant run in the Seville bullring where large crowds had gathered repeatedly to watch him.
For the matador it was a comeback because he had taken time off for depression. He is widely regarded as the leading torero de arte of his generation and he was deemed by many, to be the greatest ever.
He returned in the spring of 2026, which surprised many, and was against all expectations. His severe injury has come at a time when once again bull fighting is being debated in terms of animal cruelty.
There is an intensifying political and cultural struggle in Spain over the future of bull fighting. The Socialist Prime Minister has taken the view that the National Bull Fighting Prize needs to be abolished.
Within the ruling coalition, there are divisions about bull fighting. The Prime Minister is sitting on the fence about it. As expected, the populist right wing party is for bull fighting saying that it is part of Spain’s cultural heritage.
Personally, although I feel very badly for this matador, for me, it is always nice to see nature in the form of an aggressive bull fighting back and winning.
Bulls are mercilessly and cruelly teased with painful jabs to the back of the neck, to weaken them after which they are despatched with a sword. For someone like me, it is a terrible, terrible spectacle to be banished for good.
