Too young for ring in native Spain, bullfighter gored in Mexico

A 14-year-old Spanish bullfighter renowned in Mexico but too young to practice his sport in his native country, was in critical condition Monday after being gored by a bull in the city of Aguascalientes.

Jairo Miguel was injured Sunday when he attempted a risky maneuver before 2,000 people in Aguascalientes, about 260 miles northwest of Mexico City, according to local media reports.

Touted as the world’s youngest bullfighter when he came to Mexico at age 12, Miguel was on a respirator after his encounter with a young bull, or novillo.

“Bullfighting showed yesterday that although it has the face of a child, it remains an activity of men,” the Mexico City sports newspaper La Aficion wrote in its Monday editions.

In Spain, licensing requirements prevent bullfighters from signing professional contracts before the age of 16. But in recent years, Mexican bullrings have been hiring precocious pre-teens.

Miguel, a native of the Extremadura region of western Spain, began fighting bulls at the age of 8. In a profile published last year by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, his father, Antonio Sanchez Caceres, said he bought his son his first bullfighting cape at age 2.

“When he was 4 he would watch bullfights and move the table in the living room so he could practice with his cape,” said Sanchez Caceres, a retired professional bullfighter.

Miguel’s family twice paid hefty fines for allowing him to participate in fights, and he left Spain to work in Portugal, Colombia and other countries, according to the El Mundo profile.

The Mexican promoters Bullfighting Renewal signed him to a five-year contract last year. At just 5-foot-7 and 115 pounds, Miguel soon distinguished himself by killing a bull weighing more than 1,000 pounds and claiming the ears of a dozen bulls. The prizes are awarded after a bullfighter gracefully kills the bull.

According to El Mundo, Miguel was being paid $6,400 per bullfight and stood to earn more than $250,000 this year.

The accident Sunday that threatened Miguel’s life played out in just seconds and was captured in a video.

Miguel was attempting a “cape pass” while on his knees. Directly facing the onrushing bull, he twisted his pink cape to the left in an attempt to fake the animal in that direction.

The maneuver failed, and the bull caught Miguel with its horns, lifting him in the air and tossing him to the ground. While his fellow bullfighters tried to distract the rampaging animal, Miguel ran toward the ring’s barrier and let out a horrific scream. As his father and a paramedic carried him to the bullring’s infirmary, Miguel reportedly could be heard calling out, “I’m dying, father, I’m dying.”

“It was a very deep goring that penetrated his thorax,” Carlos Hernandez, a medical official with the group that organized the bullfights. “The horn penetrated his lung and passed very close to his heart.”

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hector.tobar@latimes.com