In 2017, renowned Spanish matador Iván Fandiño lost his life in a tragic accident during a bullfighting event in Aire-sur-l’Adour, located in southwestern France. The 36-year-old veteran, originally from the Basque Country, had been participating in the festival when the fatal incident occurred.
Fandiño, a respected figure in the bullfighting community with over a decade of experience, was known for his fearless approach in confronting bulls considered particularly dangerous by his peers. Earlier that day, he had already taken part in another bullfighting contest.
During his final performance, Fandiño reportedly tripped over his own cape and fell to the ground. The bull seized the opportunity, goring him with its horn and inflicting severe injuries. The horn penetrated several vital organs, including his lungs. Though he remained conscious in the moments immediately following the attack, witnesses described him bleeding heavily as he was transported from the arena.
According to French media reports, he suffered a fatal heart attack while being rushed to the hospital. His final reported words—”Hurry up, I’m dying”—captured the severity of the situation.
Fellow matador Juan del Álamo, who later finished the fight with the bull, expressed disbelief at the accident, noting that the sequence of events unfolded with shocking speed. He explained that Fandiño had been knocked down by the bull’s hindquarters before being fatally gored.
Fandiño had previously endured serious injuries in the ring. In 2015, he was tossed into the air by a bull in Pamplona, and in 2014, he lost consciousness following an encounter in Bayonne, France.
His death marked a grim milestone, as he became the first matador to die in France in nearly a century. The last recorded death of a matador in the country occurred in 1921 when Isidoro Mari Fernando was killed in the arena in Béziers.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, tributes poured in from across Spain, including messages from the Spanish royal family and then-Prime Minister. King Felipe VI referred to Fandiño as a “great figure of bullfighting.”
Fandiño’s death followed closely on the heels of another fatal goring in Spain, when matador Víctor Barrio died in front of a live television audience, becoming the first to do so in Spain in three decades.
Bullfighting remains a deeply divisive tradition. While it continues to be legal in both France and Spain, efforts to ban it have been persistently advocated by animal rights organizations. In 2012, France formally recognized bullfighting as part of its cultural practice, despite widespread criticism.
Source: [The Independent]
