{"id":410372,"date":"2026-04-21T17:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/410372\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:46:08","slug":"spains-greatest-matador-gored-by-bull-in-comeback-from-retirement-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/410372\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain\u2019s \u2018greatest matador\u2019 gored by bull in comeback from retirement \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The man admired by many Spaniards<\/a> as the finest bullfighter ever seen is recovering in hospital after being gored by a bull during his comeback from retirement.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Antonio Morante, more commonly known by his matador\u2019s moniker Morante de la Puebla, suffered the injury on Sunday, while bullfighting in Seville. Video footage showed him being lifted off his feet as the bull\u2019s horn punctured his buttock, before colleagues drew the animal away from him by distracting it with their capes.<\/p>\n

After initially being in a very serious condition with the 10-centimetre wound, which perforated his rectum, Morante is now recovering.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the most painful goring I have ever suffered in my career,\u201d he told El Mundo newspaper from his hospital bed. \u201cI felt enormous pain and I was very scared because I could tell that the bull had gored me and I thought I was bleeding a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morante said, after realising he was in fact not bleeding profusely, he \u201crelaxed quite a bit\u201d despite the pain.<\/p>\n

Known for his bushy sideburns and far-right politics, the 46-year-old Morante has become arguably Spain\u2019s best-known matador in recent years. Rub\u00e9n Am\u00f3n, who wrote a book about him, believes he is the greatest Spain has seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe treads on more dangerous ground than anyone,\u201d he said. \u201cThat perfect hybrid of the most powerful, bravest and most aesthetically pleasing bullfighter places Morante out of this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last October, after triumphing in Madrid\u2019s Las Ventas bullring, Morante appeared to announce his retirement, symbolically chopping off his ponytail. Bullfighting journalist Antonio Lorca said the gesture had left the bullfighting world \u201corphaned\u201d, given the lack of comparable heavyweight figures. <\/p>\n

Morante had withdrawn on several occasions before only to return each time and his comeback, making two appearances at Seville\u2019s prestigious April festival before his goring at the same event, had delighted fans.<\/p>\n

\"LastLast October, after triumphing in Madrid\u2019s Las Ventas bullring, Morante appeared to announce his retirement. Photograph: Cristina Quicler\/AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Why are prices so low in Spain when Ireland has the most expensive electricity in Europe?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Morante has been open about his lifelong struggles with mental illness and how he has been undergoing electroconvulsive therapy to treat it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have thought about death as a relief, but I can\u2019t do it, I have a family and responsibility,\u201d he has said.<\/p>\n

Morante has also been one of the highest-profile supporters of the far-right Vox party, which, he said, \u201chas provided hope not only for the world of bullfighting, but for everyone who depends on the customs of their country, the traditions, like hunting.\u201d He is a close friend of the party\u2019s leader, Santiago Abascal.<\/p>\n

The last professional bullfighter to die in the ring in Spain was the 29-year-old V\u00edctor Barrio, who was gored in the chest during a bullfight in the city of Teruel in 2016.<\/p>\n

A poll taken last year by the BBVA Foundation found 77 per cent of Spaniards found the pastime \u201cunacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Spanish prime minister\u2019s wife charged with corruptionOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The man admired by many Spaniards as the finest bullfighter ever seen is recovering in hospital after being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60,2846],"class_list":["post-410372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}