A 512kg bull named Clandestino gored Spain’s greatest matador in a Seville ring, and his words from the hospital bed are hard to read

Morante de la Puebla, widely regarded as the King of Bullfighters, is recovering in hospital after being caught by a bull named Clandestino at the Maestranza bullring in Seville. The 46-year-old matador had already faced three bulls that afternoon when Clandestino charged and drove a horn into his posterior, leaving a 10cm wound to the posterior anal margin and partially injuring the sphincter muscles. Doctors confirmed a perforation of the rear wall of the rectum of 1.5cm, requiring more than two hours of emergency surgery. As detailed by LADbible, the injury is described as complex given the structures involved, and recovery will require careful monitoring.

De la Puebla had only recently returned from a surprise retirement announced in October 2025, with critics calling his comeback performances at Seville’s annual fair some of the most memorable in years. The incident ended that run abruptly.

From his hospital bed, he described the moment in a video message to fans: “I was in immense pain, felt a lot of fear because I saw the bull had grabbed me and I thought I was bleeding.” He added that when he reached the infirmary and saw the bleeding was minimal, he relaxed somewhat, but said it remains the most painful goring of his career. He described a difficult night of little sleep and no appetite, and said he was getting through it with patience.

The bull’s mechanics make these injuries uniquely destructive

The goring is the latest in a series of high-profile incidents in Spain’s bullfighting world this year. In Málaga, 51-year-old retired matador Ricardo Ortiz was killed while unloading bulls ahead of a fight at the La Malagueta arena, when one of the animals gored him fatally.

Earlier in February, 71-year-old Eustaquio Martín died after being gored during the Carnaval del Toro festival in Ciudad Rodrigo at around 1:00 AM local time. Attending physician Dr. Enrique Crespo described the injury as uncontrollable and catastrophic, with the horn having pierced the upper ribcage and partially destroyed the heart and a portion of one lung. Martín died less than a minute after reaching the infirmary.

Understanding these injuries requires looking at how a bull physically attacks. When a bull charges, it lowers its head through neck flexion before forcefully extending its neck to engage the target. Once the horn penetrates skin, the animal often makes a rotational movement that creates multiple internal trajectories, causing extensive tissue damage along a single entry path. The groin, thighs, and abdomen are among the most commonly affected areas in serious gorings for this reason.

Spain’s regulatory framework for bullfighting events, established under Royal Decree 176/1992, governs everything from minimum cattle weight to required medical staffing in bullring infirmaries. First and second class bullrings must be equipped with surgical infirmaries, while third class venues, often smaller or temporary, frequently rely on ambulances rather than full surgical suites.

Research cited by Nature suggests that lesions are more frequent at these smaller third class venues, often involving non-professionals during traditional events such as encierros. A sentencing this week in Washington also illustrated how public events can produce unexpected violence, as a man convicted of theft at a crowded restaurant received three years in prison.

A retrospective study analyzing 1,239 patients with bull horn injuries between 2012 and 2019 found that roughly one victim per ten events should be expected. While the death rate sits at approximately 0.48 percent, vascular lesions and back gorings are identified as the most reliable prognostic indicators for mortality, making posterior injuries like de la Puebla’s particularly serious.

Crowds at public spectacles have faced dangerous situations elsewhere this week too, with around 200 tourists trapped on a Rio viewpoint after a gang shootout broke out while they watched the sunrise. As of 2014, 533 professional bullfighters have died in the ring since 1700.

For de la Puebla, the physical recovery is compounded by the psychological weight of an injury that has forced him off the sand mid-comeback. He is expected to remain hospitalized for at least a week as doctors monitor for complications, and his return to the ring remains uncertain.