12th person killed by bull in Spain in 2015

A man in his 60's from the Basque region in the north of Spain became the 12th person to be killed by a bull in a popular celebration when he was gored to death on Sunday.

The 66-year-old, who was from the town of Errenteria, died when he was gored through the heart in a bull-running event at the town of Cuellar, in the province of Segovia, north of Madrid.

Although medical staff attending the event were quickly on the scene, the man was dead before he could receive any attention such as the extent of his injury.

The local Popular Party Mayor, Jesus Garcia, said it was a "very sad" start to the event, which is designated of "historic tourist interest", and which dates back to the 13th century.

The death brings the number of fatalities in such-like events in 2015 to 12, the highest in 15 years and the number is likely to rise given that many small towns and villages hold their annual celebrations, in memory of their patron saints in late August or September.

The slight recovery in the Spanish economy means that about 16,000 local authorities have scheduled events including bulls in their festivities this year. This is some 2,000 more than in 2014, according to estimates in the Spanish media.

This comes despite the election of many left-wing local authorities in the May local and regional elections which are ideologically opposed to events which include cruelty to animals.

The past fortnight has been especially tragic with seven death in total, three last weekend and four in the previous week, including one 55-year-old man who was gored to death while filming a "bull run" on his mobile phone.