The large bull was being herded into the northern town of Cuellar, 50km south of Valladolid, as part of an annual celebration to honour its patron saint.

Horrific footage shows the moment the bull struck its unfortunate victim, at around 9.30am, knocking him to the ground as its horn penetrated his chest.

Shocked onlookers rush to the man’s side and carry him to the town’s medical centre, but nothing could be done to save him.

By the time the ambulance arrived on the scene he was already dead. His body has been transferred to Segovia for a post-mortem.

The death occurred in the first of the celebration’s bull runs – known as ‘encierros’ – in the town, recognised as one of the oldest in Spain.

Mayor Jesus Garcia Pastor said the man had wandered into an area of the town known as ‘the funnel’, where the town meets the countryside.

The fatal moment occurred as the bull cornered a tight bend and struck the man, identified only by the initials J.M.R.B. from the Basque town of Errenteria, in the Guipuzcoa district.

The Bull-Running Association of Cuellar (AEC) explained that the ‘funnel’ features a slope that makes it ‘very quick and dangerous’ during the bull runs.

Another two people were injured during the event in Cuellar, a town of around 10,000 inhabitants, but both are in a stable condition, according to Spanish news agency EFE.

Today’s victim has become the 12th person to be killed by a bull this year, making this year’s death-toll the highest since 2000.

Since the year 2000, 74 people have been killed by bulls across Spain.  

The high number of deaths has raised questions about health and safety measures surrounding the traditional summer ‘fiestas’ in thousands of Spanish villages in which bulls are let loose in the streets.

The most famous bull-running event is San Fermin, held in the northern city of Pamplona every July, and which features in Ernest Hemingway’s iconic novel The Sun Also Rises.

But there are more than 15,000 similar events held around Spain every year, during which participants run in front of, or alongside, groups of bulls.

The bull breeders’ association UCTL said earlier this week that the number of deaths this year represented less than 0.1 per cent of the millions of participants.

Attitudes are changing towards the treatment of bulls in Spain and some of the events, such as the ‘bous a la mar’ in the village of Denia, Alicante – which sees the bull chased into the sea – have been interrupted by animal rights activists.

Many of the new left-wing administration in Spanish towns and regions that came to power after local elections in May have pulled subsidies from events that include bulls, and are considering holding referendums on whether to continue with them.  

The year with the second most fatalities since 2000 was 2009, when 10 people died, and the third was 2012, when eight people died. 

(dailymail.co.uk)