A man has died after being struck by a bull, police said Sunday, bringing to ten the number of people killed in bull runs in Spain this year, one of the deadliest ever for the sport.
The death comes as new leftist mayors who swept to power across the country following May local elections mull eliminating funding for bull festivals, which see crowds of people run ahead of herds of bulls, while other towns boost their security measures.
The unidentified man in his late 40s was struck by a bull several times during a run in the northeastern town of Borriol on Saturday and died in hospital, a local police spokesman said.
Festivities were cancelled in the town of some 5,000 residents following the death. This year's toll matches the record of ten deaths in bull runs set in 2009.
Last weekend alone four men died after being gored by half-tonne fighting bulls in four different towns.
One of the victims, a 55-year-old man, was caught on video being repeatedly gored by a bull as he lay on the ground in front of protective barrier that separate onlookers from bull run participants.
"It is an inevitability, an accumulation of coincidences, due mainly to the hordes of people who go see the bulls," said Alberto de Jesus, director of bullfighting magazine "Bous al Carrer".
Nearly 16,000 town festivals will include bull events this year, nearly 2,000 more than last year, according to culture ministry figures.
"Town halls always have more bull runs the year of municipal elections, the number of fiestas shoots up because they are popular," said Vicente Ruiz, the editor of El Mundo newspaper and a regular contributor to bullfighting blog La Cuadrilla.
Most bull runs are held in August and September when towns hold festivals in honour of patron saints. Ten people were gored this year during Spain's most famous bull running festival, the week-long San Fermin fiesta in July.