One of Spain’s leading matadors was left seriously injured after he was viciously gored in the behind and tossed in the air by a bull during a festival in Valencia.

Enrique Ponce, a 47-year-old Spanish matador that boasts more than 150,000 followers on Instagram, suffered a five-inch gore injury after the bull’s horn impaled his lower buttocks and ligament damage after he crashed down on his left knee.

Ponce was transported from the Fallas festival to hospital for emergency surgery following the altercation with a 535-kilo bull named Declamador on Monday afternoon. The bullfighter spent some time in the ICU following his operation but is recovering well, reports Spanish media.

READ MORE: Award-winning matador dies after being gored by bull (PHOTOS)

TV footage from the event showed the matador lying stunned on the ground for a few seconds after impact, before hobbling to his feet and writhing in pain as aides carried him to safety – and medical attention – from the bullring. Ponce was gored at the same annual festival back in 2014.

In 2017 award-winning Spanish matador Ivan Fandino died after being gored in the lungs during a bullfight in the French town of Mont de Marsan.

Despite the efforts of animal rights campaigners, bullfighting remains popular in Spain, with about 1,800 shows per year watched by some six million spectators. It was banned in Catalonia by the Catalan nationalist government in 2012, though this was rescinded in 2016.

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