Iván Fandiño was 36 years old and had a reputation that few bullfighters dared to pursue: he faced the bulls that others rejected as too dangerous.
On June 17, 2017, at the festival in Aire-sur-l’Adour, in southwestern France, something went wrong even before the bull touched him. His feet became tangled in his own cape, and he fell to the ground. That was when the bull gored him, puncturing his lungs and other vital organs. As they took him to the hospital, he managed to say: “hurry, I’m dying”. He died of cardiac arrest on the way.
He had spent twelve years in the bullfighting rings and had already survived two other serious gorings, in Pamplona and Bayonne. He was the first matador to die in France since 1921. King Felipe VI paid tribute to him. He leaves behind a wife and daughter.
