Spain’s “most celebrated” matador, José Antonio Morante de la Puebla, came out of retirement—only to be punctured in the rectum and rushed to the hospital. According to reports, he was charged, thrown to the ground, and sustained a severe wound that required more than two hours of surgery.

But this is bullfighting. While headlines may frame the incident as “shocking”, it’s a predictable result of an event built on violence. In the ring, fighters deliberately provoke, torment, and mutilate bulls in front of jeering crowds—and for the animals, the outcome is almost always far worse.

If Puebla’s injury has “shaken” the bullfighting world, it raises a stark question: what exactly did bullfighting supporters think they were watching all along?

Bullfighting is built on suffering and death as spectacle—but unlike humans, bulls don’t choose to participate. Matadors force the bulls into the arena and repeatedly stab them, leaving them exhausted, disoriented, and in extreme distress. Once the bull is too weakened from blood loss to defend himself, the matador then attempts to deliver a fatal blow with a sword; if that fails, he uses a dagger to try and cut the animal’s spinal cord. Most bullfights end with a slow, agonizing death for the bull.

So torturing and killing bulls for ‘entertainment’ is business as usual—but a human injury is considered a tragedy?

Let’s get one thing clear: No one should be injured or killed in a bullfight—because they shouldn’t be happening at all. Bulls, like humans, experience joy, pain, and fear. When left alone, they graze peacefully and protect their fellow herd members. These sensitive animals do not want to participate in violent fights in which they are strategically set up to lose.

As this recent incident proves, the cruel bullfighting industry doesn’t just harm bulls. Just earlier this month, a 51-year-old retired matador was gored to death on the eve of an annual bullfight in Málaga, Spain.

What YOU Can Do to End This Cruel Spectacle

We need your help to help end the bloodshed in the bullfighting industry. Thanks in part to PETA Latino’s persistent work, public opinion on bullfighting has shifted significantly. In Spain, 84% of young people say they do not support bullfighting, and more than 125 cities have already imposed bans.

But the work to help bulls isn’t over yet. Speak up now:

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