A retired bullfighter was attacked and killed by a bull at a bullring in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday as he prepared for a bullfight, organizers said.
Ricardo Ortiz was handling the bulls in a pen at Malaga’s historic La Malagueta bullring when a bull charged him, according to bullfight organizer Lance de Futuro.
“We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased, who was loved and respected in the bullfighting community,” the company said in a statement.
Ortiz’s death came a day before the stadium was scheduled to host a Picasso-themed bullfight, pitting three bullfighters against six bulls.
Ortiz, born in Malaga in 1974, comes from a family of bullfighters and had a successful career himself, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported.
Bullfighting and bull running, both symbols of typical Spanish culture, have become increasingly controversial in recent years, the subject of culture wars and condemnation from animal rights activist groups.
From 2010 to 2023, the number of bullfighting festivals in Spain fell by one-third, according to Reuters.
Elsewhere around the world, this practice is also on the decline. In 2024, Colombia passed a law banning bullfighting there by 2027, leaving only seven countries in the world to host bullfighting after that. And Mexico City overhauled the tradition last year after the local council passed a measure to reduce harm to both bulls and bullfighters by banning the use of plowshares and swords to attack bullfighters.
