2 Brits, including pensioner, 86, gored by bull at Spanish festival | World | News
A British pensioner has been taken to hospital after being seriously injured by a charging bull during Spain’s controversial San Fermin festival. The unnamed 86-year-old holidaymaker from Halesowen in the West Midlands was caught up in the carnage in Pamplona as six half-tonne monsters tore through the city’s historic, narrow streets.
He was one of 11 people taken to hospital on the penultimate day of the nine-day adrenaline-packed event (Saturday, July 18), making him by far the oldest victim. The pensioner, whose name has not been released, suffered multiple injuries, including a devastating blow to his left elbow, as well as wounds to his left eyebrow and right hand. But the 86-year-old wasn’t the only Brit to face the wrath of the angry mob.
Tourist William Mitchinson, 24, was also taken to hospital after being violently trampled by a bull. Speaking with his ankle supported in front of the Navarra University Hospital, the young Englishman admitted that he only participated in the run after seeing it on TikTok and Instagram.
“I ran until the bull trampled me,” Mr Mitchinson said. Metro. “I saw the festival on social media and it looked like a lot of fun. This is my first visit to Pamplona. I may come another year, but just for the party.”
The chaotic incident, one of eight in total, lasted just two minutes and 25 seconds but quickly turned violent. An angry bull broke away from the herd near city hall, charged four runners, and one bull fell headfirst to the ground.
Medical officials confirmed that two runners suffered serious injuries. As well as the British pensioner, another daredevil was stabbed in the chest towards the end of the half-mile course, while a third man was injured in the hip.
Thousands of thrill-seekers flock to Pamplona every July, traditionally dressed in white and wearing red, wine-soaked bandannas, for the festival made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises.
While the festival pumps a staggering €100 million (£85 million) into the local economy (hotel prices skyrocket by 400% when a million tourists arrive) it faces a fierce backlash.
Animal rights groups such as PETA and Spain’s AnimaNaturalis routinely storm the city to protest what they call barbaric abuse, highlighting that any bull forced onto the streets is later publicly tortured to death in evening bullfights.
It is also incredibly dangerous for the people involved. 16 people have died on Pamplona’s cobblestones since records began. The last death occurred in 2009, when 27-year-old Daniel Jimeno from Madrid was tragically injured in the neck by a bull named Capuchino.
