Pictured: Grotesque Spanish bull-burning festival where baying crowd straps flaming wooden horns to terrified animal. . . in the name of entertainment

A terrified bull writhes and bucks as flames lick around its head moments after it is set ablaze - all for the entertainment of a baying crowd.

Shocking new images have emerged of a barbaric annual Spanish bull burning festival which animal rights campaigners are demanding be banned.

The sickening Joy of the Bull - or Toro Jubilo festival - is one of the 'cultural' highlights of the entertainment calendar for residents in the Medieval village of Medinaceli, in the province of Soria, north east of Madrid.

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Terror: The terrified bull bucks and writhes around the makeshift bullring while men goad the animal - all for the entertainment of the crowd

Traumatic: Quivering with fear, the distressed bull is tied to a post and set alight during the 400 year old Toro Jubilo (Joy of the Bull) festival

Every year, from around four centuries, people flock to watch a young bull be dragged into a makeshift ring in this grotesque ritual.

There, it is pinned to the floor, while men strap wooden stakes doused in flammable chemicals to its horns, and set it on fire. Then local me show their bravery by tormenting the terrified animal.



This year's festival, which took place on Saturday, was no different. More than 1,500 people crowded behind barriers and strained for a view of the cruel spectacle.



A bullring is constructed in the main square and sand scattered on the floor. Several bonfires are built in preparation for the arrival of the bull.



Crowd pleaser: village of Medinaceli, in the province of Soria, north east of Madrid, more than doubles in size as hundreds gather for the annual spectical

In the name of entertainment: As fiercely hot sparks and embers drip from the burning torches tied to its horns, the bull looks around in stunned bewilderment

At 11.30pm, the fires were lit using paraffin and the three-year-old bull, named Liebro , was dragged in on a rope held by many men dressed in grey uniforms.

It was tied to a post by its horns and a plank of wood attached to a metal bar doused in pitch - a highly combustible mixture of turpentine and sulphur.

Fiercely hot sparks and embers drip from the burning torches onto the bewildered animal.



The distressed bull is then released, thrashing around the ring to the cheers of the crowds.



Goading: Young men taunt the creature in the barbaric celebrations know as the Joy of the Bull Exhausting: Young local men take turns to provoke the terrified animal for around 45 minutes Members of the public are seen jumping into the ring and taunting the bull - adding to its terror and confusion. Gasping for air, the bull finally reaches a state of exhaustion after nearly 45 minutes of torment and is soon dragged out the ring by villagers to be butchered.

The men in the grey uniforms are awarded pieces of meat from the animal for their 'bravery'. Authorities in the Spanish regions of Leon and Castile have designated the festival a special cultural status. Ordeal: As the agitated bull attempts to flee, it clatters through one of the bonfires raging in the temporary bullring of Medinaceli for the village's annual festival

Hellish: The poor three-year-old bull, named Liebro, thrashes about the makeshift bullring in a desperate bid to extinguish the flames

But this has not stopped campaigners in Spain and Britain to call for it to be banned.

'This barbaric festival causes the animal phenomenal stress and fear,' Mark Jones, vet and UK executive director of the Humane Society International told the Express.

He added: 'The animal would be incredibly frightened by the whole process. In this day an age people shouldn't be using animals in this way for their entertainment and they shouldn't be using culture as an excuse for cruelty.'

Barbaric: Caked in dust and dirt, the weary animal pauses for breath as the wooden horns soaked in flammable chemicals spit white hot sparks into its face