Matador Killed by Bull in Tragic Arena Incident Before Fight

A former matador was gored to death the night before an annual bullfight in Malaga, Spain, on Friday.

A Tragic Incident

Ricarod Ortiz, 51, had retired from the bloody sport but helped with the preparation of fights with current bullfighters. He was corralling bulls at the time when something clearly went wrong.

“The tragic incident occurred,” Lances de Futuro said in a statement, “when one of the bulls gave him a severe goring that caused his death.”

The organizers went ahead with the sold-out bullfight and offered a moment of silence at the beginning to honor the tragic death of Ortiz. The stadium, which holds more than 9,000 spectators, is historic and has been in use since 1876, according to the New York Times.

This was the second death of a bullfighter since February. Eustaquio Martín, 71. Martin reportedly died following an accident the first night of Spain’s Carnaval del Toro (Carnival of the Bull) Festival. It had been decades since the last bullfighting fatality of a human. Nearly 200,000 bulls are killed annually in bullfights, according to to Human World for Animals, which seeks to end the violent sport.

Honoring Picasso

The Pablo Picasso-themed bullfight is held every year in Malaga, to celebrate the Spanish painter who frequently used bullfighting as a recurring theme in his work.