Ivan Fandiño, a 36-year-old matador from the Basque country, was well-known for his bravery in facing bulls considered too dangerous by others. Tragically, his passion for bullfighting led to his untimely death.
In 2017, Fandiño was participating in the bullfighting festival in Aire-sur-l’Adour, located in southwest France. During one of the bouts, he got tangled in his cloak and fell to the ground. This led to him being gored by a half-ton bull.
As he was taken out of the arena, Fandiño was bleeding heavily. Emergency services rushed him to the hospital, but he suffered a heart attack and passed away. On the way to the hospital, it was reported that Fandiño said, “Hurry up, I’m dying.”
The bull’s attack caused serious internal damage, including injuries to his lungs. Matador Juan del Alamo, who later killed the bull, said it was shocking how quickly it happened. “The bull knocked him down with its hindquarters, and he fell face down,” he recalled.
Before this fatal accident, Fandiño had faced serious injuries during bullfights. In 2015, he was thrown into the air by a bull in Spain, and a year later, he was left unconscious in Bayonne, France.
Fandiño was the first matador to die in France since 1921, when Isidoro Mari Fernando lost his life in Béziers. This tragic event brought attention to the dangers of bullfighting.
In France, around 1,000 bulls are killed in these events each year. The Spanish royal family and prime minister paid tribute to Fandiño, with King Felipe calling him a “great bullfighter figure.”
Bullfighting remains a controversial and debated practice. Although the Catalan regional government in Barcelona voted to ban it in 2010, the Spanish constitutional court overturned this decision in 2016, declaring bullfighting as “cultural heritage.”