Bulls in historic knockout victory at Madrid’s Las Ventas event

THE bulls fought back — seriously. They skewered all the matadors and forced the cancellation of Spain’s famous event. WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES.

Spanish bullfighter Jimenez Fortes, is tossed by a Los Chospes ranch fighting bull during a bullfight at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, May 20, 2014. Bullfighting is a traditional spectacle in Spain and the season runs from March to October. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

HALF-TONNE fighting bulls skewered or trampled all three matadors in an extraordinary upset at Madrid’s prestigious Las Ventas bullring, forcing the entire spectacle to be cancelled.

For the first time in 35 years, the San Isidro festival, which opens the bullfighting season in Spain, had to be suspended on Tuesday evening because all the matadors had been injured.

“Drama in Las Ventas” ran the front page headline of conservative daily ABC over a full-page photograph of a huge bull plunging its right horn into the side of the most seriously injured matador, David Mora, before he fell to the ground.

Not giving up ... Spanish bullfighter David Mora is tossed by an El Ventorrillo ranch fighting bull during a bullfight at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, Spain.

Spanish media devoted broad coverage to the bloody turning of the tables in Las Ventas, reputed to be the most important bullring in the world.

“The festival had to be suspended ... because of the gorings suffered by the three matadors,” said a statement issued by the Las Ventas bullring.

“In the 68-year history of San Isidro, two bullfights have been suspended for gorings of matadors, both in 1979,” it said.

The first bull on the program, a black, 532-kilogram animal named Deslio, knocked over Mora during a pass as his yellow-and-pink cape swirled in the wind.

Tossed around ... Spanish matador David Mora is gored by a bull during a bullfight of the San Isidro Feria at the Las Ventas bullring.

Mora tumbled to the sand beneath his cloak but the bull immediately returned to its prey, head down, ramming its horn deep into his leg and tossing him over repeatedly.

“The somersault was horrific, shocking, chilling, impossible for the human eye to witness yet evident to the mind,” wrote El Pais bullfighting correspondent Antonio Lorca.

Mora suffered two gorings including a 30-centimetre gash in the thigh and another in the armpit, a medical report from the bullring said, describing his prognosis as serious.

The second matador, Antonio Nazare, appeared before the shocked audience to finish off the animal with the sword.

Next ... Spanish matador Antonio Nazare was the next bullfighter to take on the beast.

Nazare then faced his own opponent, however, a 537-kilogram brown bull named Feten.

The animal dragged the matador along the sand, injuring his knee and forcing him to seek treatment in the bullring hospital, the medical report showed.

Finally, the third matador, Saul Jimenez Fortes, entered the ring to fight the same bull.

The animal skewered him in the right leg and the pelvis, leaving three 10-centimetre deep injuries, the bullring doctor said.

Taken down ... Spanish matador Jimenez Fortes is gored by a bull during a bullfight of the San Isidro Feria at the Las Ventas bullring in Madrid.

Fortes managed to kill the beast before he, too, sought medical treatment.

In a Spanish bullfight, three matadors spar with a total of six bulls — two each — before putting the animals to the sword. With all three fighters out of action at Las Ventas, the rest of the event was called off.

Bullfighting has been on the decline for years in Spain, with a 2010 survey in leading daily El Pais showing 60 per cent of respondents opposed the practice.

Barcelona’s ring held its final bullfight in September 2011 after the Catalonia region banned bullfighting, the second Spanish region to do so after the Canary Islands.

Feeling the pain ... Assistants help Spanish matador David Mora after he was injured during a bullfight of the San Isidro Feria at the Las Ventas bullring in Madrid.