Spain bullfighters out in force for matador’s funeral

Hundreds of people joined family, friends and members of Spain’s bullfighting world for a funeral mass for bullfighter Victor Barrio who was fatally gored in a bullring this past weekend.

People applauded and shouted “torero, torero” as the coffin was carried from a hearse to a packed San Bartolome church in the central town of Sepulveda where Barrio lived.

The 29-year-old matador died after being gored in the thigh and chest in the central city of Teruel on Saturday.

The goring was broadcast live on television and news of his death stirred widespread reaction across Spain. King Felipe VI and acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy expressed condolences.

Medics were at Barrio’s side almost immediately but he died later in the bullring’s infirmary.

He was the first professional matador to die in a bullfight in Spain since Frenchman Jose Cubero Yiyo, 21, in 1985 in Madrid.

His wife, Raquel Sanz, was at the ring when the goring happened.

In messages on her official Twitter account, Sanz thanked those who had expressed condolences and said, “My life has gone. I have no strength.’”

Festivities in Teruel were suspended following Barrio’s death, and Las Ventas, the Madrid bullring were he debuted in 2010, posted a remembrance of the young bullfighter.