Iván Fandiño was one of Spain’s best-known bullfighters, admired for taking on bulls other matadors avoided. On June 17, 2017, he was killed in the ring at Aire-sur-l’Adour in southwestern France, in a death that stunned the bullfighting world and reopened a long-running debate.
The Final Fight
Fandiño, 36, was born in Orduña, near Bilbao in Spain’s Basque Country, and had been fighting for about 12 years. He was performing at the Aire-sur-l’Adour bullfighting festival alongside Juan del Álamo and local matador Thomas Dufau. He had already performed that afternoon and been awarded a bull’s ear for an earlier bout.
During the third bull of the evening, Fandiño stepped in to perform a “quite,” a sequence of cape passes, on a bull being fought by del Álamo. He caught his feet in his cape, stumbled and fell. The bull, which weighed nearly half a tonne, gored him in the torso, and its horn pierced his lung.
Rushed to the Hospital
Other bullfighters carried him from the ring to the infirmary. According to reports quoted by British media, his last words were “Hurry up, I’m dying.” He was taken to the hospital in Mont-de-Marsan. An independent medical source told AFP that he had two heart attacks in the ambulance and died later in hospital.
“It Was All So Fast”
Del Álamo, who later killed the bull, said he could not believe what had happened. “None of us understand how it could have happened,” he said, adding that the bull knocked Fandiño down with its hindquarters and that he fell face down. He later described the day as “the worst day of my life.”
Tributes poured in. Spain’s royal household honored Fandiño as a great figure of bullfighting, and then-Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also paid his respects.
A Rare Fatality
Fandiño was the first bullfighter to die from injuries in a French ring since Isidoro Mari Fernando was killed in Béziers in 1921, according to Connexion France and The Times. His death also came less than a year after Spanish matador Víctor Barrio, 29, was gored to death in Teruel during a televised bullfight in July 2016.
A Tradition Under Scrutiny
Bullfighting remains controversial. In France, the penal code treats cruelty to animals as a crime but makes an exception for “uninterrupted local tradition,” and in 2011 bullfighting was added to an official list of the country’s cultural heritage. Humane Society International reacted to Fandiño’s death by calling for a ban, noting that about 1,000 bulls die every year in French bullfights. Supporters, by contrast, see it as an art form and an inherited tradition.
Risk, Insurance and Planning
Fandiño’s death highlights the risks in dangerous professions. For people in high-risk jobs and their families, a few financial products are worth understanding:
- Life insurance. Compare life insurance policies, and check whether hazardous occupations are excluded or carry higher premiums.
- Accident and disability cover. Personal accident insurance and disability insurance can protect income after serious injury.
- Occupational cover. Some professions offer occupational accident insurance through unions or professional associations.
- Travel planning. If you visit southwestern France or the Basque Country, compare travel insurance, Landes regional tours and flights to Bordeaux or Bilbao.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Iván Fandiño? A Spanish matador from the Basque Country, known for fighting bulls other bullfighters avoided.
How did he die? He tripped on his cape in the ring at Aire-sur-l’Adour, was gored in the torso and died after being taken to hospital.
What were his last words? British media reported that they were “Hurry up, I’m dying.”
When was the last matador death in France? In 1921, before Fandiño, when Isidoro Mari Fernando died in Béziers.
Is bullfighting legal in France? It is permitted in areas where it is considered an uninterrupted local tradition, while many groups campaign to ban it.
Sources: AFP, CNN, Connexion France, and The Times, all covering the June 2017 death of Spanish matador Iván Fandiño in a bullring in Aire-sur-l’Adour, France, and the debate over bullfighting that followed.
Should be banned…. period.