A 17-year-old was gored and repeatedly thrown by a bull during a traditional festival in central Spain and was taken to hospital in serious condition, authorities said.
Video footage of the incident in the town of Mocejón, in the province of Toledo, on Sept. 9 shows the animal pushing the youth against a wall before lifting him into the air and slamming him against a metal gate. The bull then dragged the teenager back to the center of the plaza and toppled him, leaving him on the ground as other participants rushed in to intervene.
Civil Guard sources said the boy was gored three times, sustaining wounds to his shoulder and abdomen. Emergency medical personnel stabilised him at the scene before transferring him to the University Hospital of Toledo, where hospital sources said his condition was serious.
Footage shows several people attempting to distract the bull by waving capes and pulling at its tail; those efforts ultimately allowed bystanders to carry the injured minor away from the animal and summon medical assistance. Local authorities and festival organisers were not immediately available for additional comment.
The incident occurred during celebrations in honour of the Virgin of Angustias, part of the town’s annual Bull Day events. Such festivities, which often include running or releasing bulls in town plazas, are customary in parts of Spain but have drawn safety scrutiny in recent years because of injuries sustained by participants and spectators.
The Mocejón attack comes weeks after a fatal incident in neighbouring Portugal. On Aug. 23, 22-year-old Manuel Maria Trindade, a member of a forcado group making a traditional defensive manoeuvre in Lisbon’s Campo Pequeno bullring, was thrown against a wall and later died after being placed in an induced coma. Portuguese reports said the bullfighter sustained severe head injuries and died within 24 hours of the incident; a 73-year-old spectator also died amid the commotion.
Spanish Civil Guard and medical teams typically investigate serious incidents that occur during sanctioned festivities; authorities can open inquiries to determine the circumstances of the event and whether safety protocols were followed. In this case, the Civil Guard provided initial details on the teenager’s wounds and transfer to hospital, and hospital staff confirmed his serious condition.
Organisers of regional festivals have in recent years tightened emergency response arrangements, including the presence of on-site medical teams and protocols for moving animals away from injured participants, but officials say the events still carry inherent risks. No official statement about changes to Mocejón’s programme or possible cancellations in the days following the attack was announced publicly at the time of reporting.