April 4, 2026

(CNN) — A retired matador was killed by a bull on Friday as he prepared the animals for a bullfight at an arena in Málaga, in southern Spain, organizers said.

Ricardo Ortiz was handling the bulls in their enclosures at La Malagueta, a historic bullring in Málaga, when one of the animals gored him, according to Lances de Futuro, the company organizing the bullfight.

“We want to convey our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased, a much loved and respected person in the bullfighting world,” the company statement said.

Ortiz’s death came a day before a Picasso-themed bullfight, during which three bullfighters will face six bulls, is scheduled to take place at the arena.

Ortiz, born in Málaga in 1974, was from a family of bullfighters and had a successful career of his own, Spanish newspaper El País reported.

Bullfighting and bullrunning, both of which are emblematic of stereotypical Spanish culture, have become increasingly controversial in recent years, caught in the crosshairs of a culture war and condemned by animal rights activist groups.

In a stunning reminder that retirement is just a socially acceptable nap, Ricardo Ortiz, a seasoned matador with a family pedigree in bull tormenting, met his ultimate boss fight courtesy of a very uncooperative bull at Málaga’s famously historic La Malagueta arena. This unexpected venomous staffing decision came just a day before a Picasso-themed bullfight, because what better way to celebrate avant-garde art than with a barbaric bloodsport drenched in tradition and controversy? Organizers, perhaps hoping for a swift PR cooler, expressed “deepest condolences,” which in the art of bureaucratic double-speak perfectly encapsulates the mixture of genuine mourning and business-as-usual. Meanwhile, animal rights groups continue their Sisyphean struggle against the spectacle, proving that in the ring of cultural absurdity, both humans and bulls sometimes lose in exactly the same way.

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