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History behind the running of the bulls (2015)
01:35 - Source: CNN

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Victor Barrio, 29, was killed in Teruel

Spanish towns hold annual bull running festivals every summer

CNN  — 

A professional bullfighter was gored to death by a bull during a competition on live television in Spain over the weekend.

Victor Barrio, 29, was killed in Teruel, in the eastern Aragon region.

Plaza de Las Ventas bullring, where he’s worked as a bullfighter fox six years, announced his death in a statement Saturday. It said a moment of silence will be held in his honor.

Spanish bullfighter Victor Barrio performs in Madrid in 2011. He was gored to death by a bull Saturday.

Spanish towns hold annual summer festivals in which bulls dash after humans in a short run that seems like an eternity.

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In Pamplona, where Spain’s famous bull run is held, the event dates to 400 years. It gained fame worldwide after author Ernest Hemingway wrote about it in his 1920s novel, “The Sun Also Rises.”

The annual festival is so popular that Pamplona’s population of 200,000 can triple during the eight consecutive days of running in July.

Throngs of revelers travel to Spain every year for a chance to watch from the barricades and balconies.

In Pamplona’s San Fermin festival, a 33-year-old Japanese man was gored in the chest, one of 14 people injured Saturday, the local government said on its website.

‘Expert’ gored by bulls says he’ll run with them again

CNN’s Dominique Heckels contributed to this report.