Terror as bull leaps into crowd, hurting 40

• The injured bull leaps into the grandstand at the arean in Tafalla, northern Spain, causing spectators to scatter. Around 40 people were left injured following the rampage Pictures: AFP

Video released yesterday showed the bull jumping several metres high out of the ring, clearing two barriers before landing in the stands and raising a panic as it lurched through the screaming crowd, charging and tossing everything in its path.

The 500kg animal was brought under control by experienced bull handlers after several minutes and was later killed.

The incident happened on Wednesday at the Tafalla arena in the northern region of Navarra during an event attended by about 3,500 spectators, in which mostly young people try to get a bull to charge at them so they can dodge it.

Unlike in standard bullfights, the bulls are not usually killed.

The bull had already twice tried to jump into the stands. After damaging a horn, it was about to be returned to the corral and replaced with another bull when it tried a third time and succeeded.

The regional government said yesterday that three people remained in hospitals in the regional capital of Pamplona, best known for its annual San Fermin running of the bulls festival. The injured included a ten-year-old boy in intensive care after the bull reportedly fell on him. Another man was gored in the back and was said to be stable.

In all, 40 people were treated, most for minor injuries.

"What could have been a tragedy ended up as a big fright," Tafalla mayor Cristina Sota said.

Inaki Zunzarren, who was treated for bruises, said: "The bull caught me and hurled me against the concrete seating. What an experience."

Also lightly injured was 16-year-old Eneko Goyena Sesma.

"I was with my friends when the bull jumped over and everyone began to run. Somebody must have pushed me and I fell to the ground," he said.

The regional government said the crowd was made up largely of young people, and most were able to get away from the bull quickly.

Another northern region of Spain, Catalonia, banned bullfighting last month.

The decision was greeted with cheers in the regional 135-seat Catalonia legislature when the speaker announced the ban had passed 68-to-55, with nine abstentions.

It will take effect in 2012 in the north-eastern coastal region whose capital is Barcelona.

Catalonia is a powerful, wealthy area with its own language and culture and a large degree of self-rule, and many in Spain have seen the pressure for a bullfighting ban as an attempt by Catalonia to stand out from the rest of the country.

The ban on bullfights will lead to the closure of Barcelona's only surviving bullring in 2012.Today only 14 fights are held at the loss-making venue each year, out of a nationwide total of roughly 1,000 bouts per season.

The law was passed amid rising tension between Catalonia and the rest of Spain, which was brought to light when hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Barcelona on 10 July to protest over a recent court ruling which placed limits on Catalonia's powers.

Bullfighting is closely associated with Spain and its origins can be traced back as far as the year 711, when the first bullfight took place in celebration for the crowning of King Alfonso VIII.

Bullfighting was originally a sport for the aristocracy and took place on horseback.

King Felipe V took exception to the sport, however, and banned the aristocracy from taking part, believing it to be a bad example to the public.