Spanish bullfighter Gonzalo Caballero gored during the bullfight at Las Ventas (Pictures:Rex Features)

The bullfighter boyfriend of a Spanish royal is ‘gravely ill’ after being gored in the thigh and groin.

Matador Gonzalo Caballero, 27, was injured during a tournament to mark Hispanic Day in Madrid’s Las Ventas bullring and is in a very ‘serious condition’ after the bull’s horn punctured a vital vein.

He is the boyfriend of Victoria Federica, 19, niece of the King of Spain, who watched on in horror from the VIP area on a Spanish day of national celebrations.

Caballero clutched his crotch as he was taken from the bullring in an effort to curb the prolific bleeding.




He was operated in the infirmary for more than two hours and then transferred to a medical centre.

Caballero was gored and tossed into the air before being hit a second time (Picture: Rex Features)

The fight took place on a day of national celebrations (Picture: Rex Features)

The bull had been pierced by a sword to the back of its neck but fought on and charged Cabellaro striking him in the leg and tossing the matador helplessly into the air before hitting him again as he lay prone.

The second attack cut his femoral vein.

The beaten bullfighter was carried from the ring by staff, leaving a trail of crimson in the sand as he failed to stem the blood flow.

Caballero had only just returned to ring after spending months recuperating from an earlier goring.

Cabellaro had only recently returned to bullfighting after recovering from a previous goring (Picture: Rex Features)

Cabellaro was carried to the infirmary by staff (Picture: Rex Features)

He currently remains in San Francisco de Asís hospital, Madrid.

The crowd demanded Caballero should be ‘rewarded’ with the traditional severed ear of the bull and this was performed by another matador.

The ear was delivered to him while he was in the bullring infirmary.

Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.