French tourist gored to death by a bull in Spain

The 44-year old French citizen was with friends when one of the bulls attacked him, causing "very serious injuries," Spanish officials said on Tuesday.

"The only thing medical staff could do was to certify his death," the town hall said in a statement.

The deadly incident occurred in Pedreguer which is the province of Alicante. The small town in the east of Spain is one of many Spanish communities to hold so-called bull runs during their traditional summer festivals. The most famous of those is San Fermin in Pamplona, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

Following the news of the man's death, Pedreguer officials canceled all bull runs scheduled until Wednesday, "as an act of mourning."

Matadors still going strong

Ten people were gored in Pamplona last week, but all survived their injuries. The last person to die while running with the bulls at the main event in Pamplona was a 27-year old Spaniard in 2009. He was the 15th person to be killed in that way since 1911. There is no data available before that, although the festival itself is over 300 years old.

In modern times, the Spanish tradition sparks criticism from animal rights activists, who oppose matadors killing bulls as part of the festivities in Pamplona.

The Pamplona celebration was first made world-famous by Ernest Hemingway, in his 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises."

dj/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)