People killed in bull running events in Spain rises to 10 this year

The number of people who have died as the result of being gored by a bull during this year's popular celebrations of 'fiestas' in Spain rose to 10 on Sunday when a man in his 40's was killed.

The unidentified victim was gored several times by a bull in the town of Borriol (northeastern Spain) and later died in hospital.

This death comes in the wake of four deaths in four different locations in Spain in the past week bringing this year's death toll to the record number of deaths which was set in 2009.

One of the deaths happened close to Toledo where a 55-year-old was gored to death by a bull he had been filming on his mobile phone, while another victim was an 80-year-old man who was gored in the neck.

The number of deaths is almost certain to rise given that the months of August and September are the most popular months for small towns to hold their celebrations in memory of their patron saints. One contributing factor to the increase in deaths is the end of the economic crisis: events involving bulls have returned to many towns which had previously decided to end them in recent years in an attempt to cut costs.

Around 16,000 local authorities have scheduled events involving bulls this year, around 2,000 more than in 2014, the Spanish media reported, although the election of some left- wing councils in the local elections held in May has led to some towns, such as Villafranca de los Caballeros, scrapping the bull runs.

In Villafranca de los Caballeros, the local authority voted to use the 18,000 euros (approximately 20,000 U.S. dollars) that it costs to hold such an event to purchase books and supplies for local schools, while Manuela Carmena, the newly elected Mayor of Madrid said "not one euro of public money," would be used to fund bullfighting. Endit