© AFPSpanish matador Jimenez Fortes is gored by a bull during a bullfight of the San Isidro Feria at the Las Ventas bullring in Madrid on Tuesday, May 21, 2014.
"Drama in Las Ventas" ran the front page headline of conservative daily ABC over a full-page photograph of a huge bull plunging its right horn into the side of the most seriously injured matador, David Mora, before he fell to the ground.
Spanish media devoted broad coverage to the bloody turning of the tables in Las Ventas, reputed to be the most important bullring in the world.
"The festival had to be suspended .. because of the gorings suffered by the three matadors," said a statement issued by the Las Ventas bullring.
The first bull on the programme, a black, 532-kilogramme (1,172-pound) animal named Deslio, knocked over Mora during a pass as his yellow-and-pink cape swirled in the wind.
Mora tumbled to the sand beneath his cloak but the bull immediately returned to its prey, head down, ramming its horn deep into his leg and tossing him over repeatedly.
The second matador, Antonio Nazare, appeared before the shocked audience to finish off the animal with the sword.
Nazare then faced his own opponent, however, a 537-kilogramme (1,184-pound) brown bull named Feten. The animal dragged the matador along the sand, injuring his knee and forcing him to seek treatment in the bullring hospital, the medical report showed.
Finally, the third matador, Saul Jimenez Fortes, entered the ring to fight the same bull. The animal skewered him in the right leg and the pelvis, leaving three 10-centimetre (four-inch) deep injuries, the bullring doctor said. Fortes managed to kill the beast before he, too, sought medical treatment.
In a Spanish bullfight, three matadors spar with a total of six bulls - two each - before putting the animals to the sword. With all three fighters out of action at Las Ventas, the rest of the event was called off.
Bullfighting has been on the decline for years in Spain, with a 2010 survey in El Pais showing 60 percent of respondents opposed the practice.
...are killed by the bulls - can the bulls finally be allowed to live a proper life without being fought in a ring??? Can the bulls finally be declared the winners??? I hope all the bulls that have ever been subjected to a bullfight are at peace. When will humans learn?