A 64-year-old woman was gored to death by a bull during a festival in the Spanish village of Ayna on Saturday. The incident occurred just before 11 a.m. in the province of Albacete, about a two-and-a-half-hour drive inland from Alicante.
The woman, who hailed from Catalonia and was visiting the area with her husband, was reportedly standing outside the safety barriers when one of the bulls turned and charged at her. Footage showed her initially waving the bulls on before they headed towards her location. She ran back in the direction from which the animals had come, but one bull stopped and gored her as she lay on the ground.
A spokesman for a regional-government run emergency services coordination centre confirmed the death, stating, "A woman has died after being injured in a bull goring at a festival in Ayna in Albacete. Another person has been injured."
The mayor of Ayna, Juan Angel Martinez, said, "During part of the route, in an area known as Las Cuevas, the woman stopped still by the barrier and when she started running, one of the bulls charged at her." Events scheduled for Saturday as part of the festivities honoring the village's patron saint were suspended following the incident.
Ayna is a village with a registered population of 577 inhabitants, known for its scenic beauty and climate, and is often referred to as 'Manchegan Switzerland'. Its annual festival began on Thursday and was scheduled to conclude on Sunday.
This incident echoes a similar tragedy in Mexico last month, where two people were killed and 11 injured during the Huamantlada festival in Huamantla, Tlaxcala. The casualties included a woman who was tossed by a bull and another man who died from severe injuries sustained during the event. The Huamantlada, featuring 21 fighting bulls, is considered one of the largest running of the bulls events globally, and the deaths were the first recorded there in eight years.