Tordesillas' bull hunt hero: "I feel like Cristiano Ronaldo"
Animal rights activists level charges of extreme cruelty at annual event
"I feel like Cristiano Ronaldo," said Óscar Bartolomé Hernández, aka "Zamorano," after spearing the 608-kilo bull "Afligido" to death at the climax of the annual Toro de la Vega event in Tordesillas in Valladolid province.
Following a half-hour pursuit, the bull, Zamorano explained in a hoarse voice, came at him from the front and he stuck his spear twice into his left side. It then bled until it fell, surrounded by the crowd.
The controversial El Toro de la Vega hunt, which has been declared of National Touristic Interest, involves 300 people on horseback and many others on foot chasing a bull through the sand of a pine forest. Only those at the head of the chase know exactly what happens. According to Javier Moreno of the animal rights NGO Igualdad Animal, participants tried to stab the bull with a screwdriver, something Socialist mayor José Antonio González denied.
The popularity of the event, which the majority of the town's 9,000 inhabitants support, seems to grow with the controversy around it. Mayor González optimistically estimated it attracted 50,000 people to Tordesillas on the main day of its festival.