Persistent teenager gored at bull-running

BULLS are inseparable from Mediterranean culture and local fiestas and danger is part of the fun, or the thrill, that attracts young and old alike.

A Calpe boy of 15 was gored in the armpit then tossed at the bous al carrer event during the town fiestas. After receiving first aid he was taken to Denia Hospital. The wound was stitched and dressed before he was discharged after several hours in observation, he was amongst the lucky ones. 

Witnesses saw him persistently trying to enter the cordoned-off bull-run, ignoring loudspeaker announcements barring under-16s. He finally made it under the barrier at 2.15am but slipped and was immediately gored.

His parents were criticised: “They knew he shouldn’t be there,” commented fiestas Councillor Ana Perles, who stressed their responsibility for the boy’s injury.  

Four more were injured at events in Alicante Province at the weekend. Another incident, in Museros (Valencia), involved a 14-year-old female spectator.

Even the prudent can come to grief. Two people were hurt in Gata despite assuming they were out of harm’s way inside the barred ‘ratera’ or rat-trap.

Bulls are unpredictable and during the last run of the Gata fiestas they twice managed to inflict harm by sticking their horns through bars. A 46-year-old French tourist was badly injured inside the ‘ratera’ and taken by ambulance to hospital. A second man aged 65, was taken to hospital but didn’t need admitted. There have been several deaths this year so far in Spain.