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Víctor Barrio Hernanz (Spanish: [ˈbiktoɾ ˈβarjo eɾˈnanθ]; 29 May 1987 – 9 July 2016), known as Víctor Barrio, was a Spanish bullfighter who died at the age of 29 when he was gored in the chest by a bull named Lorenzo at the Teruel bullring.

Early life

Barrio's parents, who both survived him, were Joaquín Barrio and Esther Hernanz.

According to Barrio's first apoderado, José Galán ("Josele"), Barrio had no formal training in tauromachy. He learnt at local farms about the profession, and indeed, never stood before a bull until he was twenty years old. On the other hand, at least one source says that Barrio was an alumnus of the Escuela de Tauromaquia de "El Espinar" in Segovia.

Bullfighting career

Barrio's first performance in public as a novillero (novice bullfighter who fights yearling bulls) without picadores was on 13 July 2008 at Las Ventas de Retamosa in the province of Toledo. He then had his début with picadores on 29 August of the next year at the Sepúlveda bullring in the province of Segovia. He got great recognition as a novillero, winning the prizes for the best novillero at the Feria de San Isidro ("Saint Isidore's Fair) in 2011, awarded at Bilbao and Santander, and also the Golden Potter (Villaseca de la Sagra), the Silver Frascuelo (Moralzarzal), and the Golden Spike (Calasparra).

Barrio took his alternativa at Madrid's Las Ventas bullring on 8 April 2012, which was Easter Sunday. Standing as "godfather" for the occasion was José Pedro Prados Martín "El Fundi", while Juan del Álamo bore witness. The bulls were supplied by the José Luis Pereda ranch. A minute of silence was observed for the fiftieth anniversary of bullfighter Juan Belmonte's death. In 2015, the Mesonero Mayor de Castilla and Golden Chimney of Valdemorillo trophies were awarded him.

There would seem to be no reliable record of Barrio ever having had his alternativa confirmed.

Death

On 9 July 2016, during the Vaquilla del Ángel (literally "Angel's Heifer" — the angel is the city's patron, the Holy Guardian Angel) celebrations in Teruel, Barrio was on the bill together with Curro Vázquez and Morenito de Aranda. Barrio was 29 years old by this time. He was allotted the afternoon's third bull, a beast from the Los Maños ranch weighing 529 kg, named Lorenzo, who would be the last bull that Barrio ever faced. Lorenzo delivered a deadly goring to Barrio, thrusting a horn deep into the bullfighter's chest. Barrio died within minutes. Lorenzo's horn had passed through the bullfighter's axilla, penetrating his right lung and rupturing his thoracic aorta, leading to massive blood loss and a quick death. It was the first time in more than thirty years that a bullfighter had died during a corrida in Spain (excluding the banderilleros Manolo Montoliú and Ramón Soto Vargas, who died in 1992), the last before Barrio having been José Cubero Sánchez "el Yiyo" on 30 August 1985 at Colmenar Viejo, Madrid. The whole incident was broadcast live on television.

Barrio's body was brought to his hometown, and a chapel of rest (place where respects can be paid to one who has died) was set up at the local sports centre. Barrio's funeral in Sepúlveda, Segovia drew a great crowd, which included the authorities, bullfighters and aficionados.

After Barrio's death, many animal rights and anti-bullfighting advocates published messages that could have constituted crimes, leading the Fundación del Toro de Lidia ("Fighting Bull Foundation") and Víctor Barrio's family to take legal action against messages that they considered insulting and slanderous. A case in point was the complaint that Barrio's family brought against a teacher named Vicent Belenguer who had allegedly posted on his Facebook account that he wished the same fate (that is, death) on all Barrio's kin.

On 4 September 2016, a corrida was celebrated in homage to Barrio at the Valladolid bullring. Bulls were supplied by the Juan Pedro Domecq, Núñez del Cuvillo, Zalduendo, Domingo Hernández, and Victoriano del Río ranches, and were slain by Juan José Padilla, José Tomás, Morante de la Puebla, Julián López Escobar ("El Juli"), Manzanares hijo, and Alejandro Talavante.

In 2017, a plaque was unveiled at the Valdemorillo bullring, out through whose main gate Barrio had been borne, shoulder-high, as both a novillero and a matador. Also unveiled at the Teruel bullring was a tile in the bullfighter's honour decorated with a guardian angel's wings. In 2021, a ceramic mosaic homage to Barrio was unveiled at Las Ventas, right at the Great Gate. The artist was Luis Gordillo.

Foundation

Also worth mentioning is the Fundación Víctor Barrio para la divulgación de la tauromaquia ("Víctor Barrio Foundation for the dissemination of tauromachy"), whose theme is a quote from Barrio himself:

La tauromaquia, más que defenderla, hay que enseñarla.
(Tauromachy, rather than be defended, needs to be taught.)

— Victor Barrio

Lorenzo

Lorenzo died of injuries sustained during the fight, and there was widespread speculation that Lorenzo's mother, Lorenza, would be killed as part of the practice of "killing off the bloodline" whereby the families of "murderer bulls" would be killed. This was rendered moot as it was later confirmed by Lorenza's ranchers that she had been put to death days before the event because of her old age.

See also

• Bullfighting in Spain
• Iván Fandiño, another Spanish bullfighter who was killed by a bull less than a year later.

References

1. ^ "El diestro Víctor Barrio, enterrado en Sepulveda". telemadrid.es (in Spanish). Telemadrid. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
2. ^ López, Javier (10 July 2016). "Perfil: Un torero que no se formó en ninguna escuela". diariodemallorca.es (in Spanish). Editora Balear, S.A. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
3. "El gerente de Tauroemoción, nuevo apoderado de Víctor Barrio". elnortedecastilla.es (in Spanish). EL NORTE DE CASTILLA. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
4. ^ Blanco Elipe, César (14 November 2019). "La familia de Víctor Barrio y el profesor que se mofó de su muerte, cara a cara en el juzgado: "Soy inocente"". elnortedecastilla.es (in Spanish). EL NORTE DE CASTILLA. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
5. "Víctor Barrio". tauroarte.com (in Spanish). Tauroarte. 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
6. "Víctor Barrio: aquel novillero que cautivó Madrid". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 9 July 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
7. lainformacion.com (9 September 2010). "Víctor Barrio, triunfador de la "Espiga de Oro" de Calasparra". La Información (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 October 2022.
8. "Víctor Barrio y Borja Jiménez, las 'Chimeneas' de Valdemorillo". mundotoro.com (in Spanish). 9 February 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
9. "Víctor Barrio muere tras una brutal cornada en el pecho". El Mundo. 9 July 2016.
10. "España: después de 30 años, murió un torero por una cornada". La Voz (in Spanish). 10 July 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
11. Muere el picador José Antonio Muñoz Ortiz tras ser aplastado por su caballo. Diario El País. Publicado el 23 de mayo de 1999
12. Lorca, Antonio (9 July 2016). "Muere el torero Víctor Barrio tras sufrir una cornada". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
13. "Telemadrid emitió en directo la cogida mortal del torero Víctor Barrio". eldiario.es (in Spanish). El Diario. 10 July 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
14. "Víctor Barrio ya está en Sepúlveda". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 10 July 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
15. Diezminutos.es (11 July 2016). "El doloroso último adiós a Víctor Barrio". Diez Minutos (in European Spanish). Retrieved 14 October 2022.
16. "La Justicia obliga a una antitaurina a retractarse por celebrar en las redes la muerte de los toreros". abc (in Spanish). 18 January 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
17. "La familia de Víctor Barrio presenta una querella por injurias contra el autor de un mensaje denigrante contra el torero | Onda Cero Radio". www.ondacero.es (in Spanish). 28 October 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
18. "Antitaurinos celebran en Twitter la muerte del torero Víctor Barrio". Europa Press. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
19. Digital, Confidencial (12 July 2016). "La Policía investiga a un centenar de tuiteros que celebraron la muerte de Víctor Barrio". Confidencial Digital (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 October 2022.
20. "Tarde taurina para la historia en el emocionante homenaje a Víctor Barrio en Valladolid". abc (in Spanish). 4 September 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
21. "Valdemorillo dedica Víctor Barrio cartel de la feria y una placa en la plaza". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 11 January 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
22. derecho, Por el pitón (July 2017). "Teruel homenajea a Víctor Barrio". www.porelpitonderecho.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 October 2022.
23. País, El (9 April 2021). "Las Ventas inaugura un mosaico de Luis Gordillo en memoria de Víctor Barrio". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 October 2022.
24. Jaba, Javier Baquero- (7 February 2020). "La tauromaquia, más que defenderla, hay que enseñarla | Voy a Los Toros" (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 October 2022.
25. "Fundación Víctor Barrio". www.fundacionvictorbarrio.es. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
26. Phippen, J. (13 July 2016). "A Custom of Revenge Killing in Spain". The Atlantic. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
27. "La madre del toro "Lorenzo" había sido sacrificada hace días por la edad". ABC. 10 July 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2020.

• 1987 births
• 2016 deaths
• Bullfighters killed in the arena
• Filmed deaths in sports
• Sportspeople from the Province of Segovia
• Spanish bullfighters
• Sport deaths in Spain
• Deaths due to bull attacks