By Katerina Lorenzatos Makris on Examiner.com

A 1,100- pound bull named Navegante gored the groin of one of Spain’s best-known matadors on Saturday in Mexico, hoisting him into the air and puncturing a vein and a major artery. Then on Sunday, a bull gored a bullfighter in Barcelona, Spain.

Navegante the Mexican bull caught Spaniard Jose Tomas in the groin with his horn, shook him, and tossed him several feet into the air. He ripped through Tomas’s leg, necessitating reconstructive surgery to its femoral artery and vein. As of Sunday, hospital officials termed Tomas’s condition “delicate” but stable.

Bull is weakened by multiple stabbings before matador enters

The incident occurred in a bullring in Aguascalientes, Mexico, while Tomas taunted Navegante with a cape. Photos and video show numerous spikes hanging from Navegante’s back, which is lathered in blood from the bull's own wounds.

During bullfights the animal is stabbed repeatedly with spears by horse-mounted men known as picadores, then by others called bandilleros wielding sharp spikes that they leave lodged in the bull’s flesh, all in an effort to sever or fatigue key muscles, reduce his ability to lift his head, and weaken him via blood loss, confusion, and pain before the matador steps into the ring.

'Living without bullfighting is not living,' says matador

Considered one of Spain’s top matadors, 34-year-old Tomas has been quoted as saying that “living without bullfighting is not living.” He is hailed for his risky style of edging exceptionally close to the bull, and has been seriously gored several times over the years.

According to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, Tomas's injury on Saturday was so severe that doctors on hand at the bullring did not have time to administer anesthesia to him before operating. His rare “A” blood type led officials to ask audience members to donate blood to help replace the eight liters that the star bullfighter ultimately lost.

On Sunday in Barcelona, a Spanish bull whose name was not mentioned in reports gored matador Manuel Diaz "El Cordobes" at the Monumental Bullring in Barcelona. Details of the incident are not immediately available.

Bull's death is sure but often slow

There is no information available on the condition of either Navegante or the bull in Spain. However, customarily all animals used in bullfights are killed either during the event or soon afterward.

While it is the role of the matador to deal a quick fatal stab of a sword into the heart of the bull, often the stroke is less than accurate. The bull sustains injuries to his lungs and bronchials, which burble blood through his mouth and nose and bring death slowly.

Bullfighting is illegal in the United States (except for a variant called "bloodless" bullfighting in some states such as California) but allowed in many countries including Spain, Mexico, Colombia, France, Portugal, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador.