DISTRESSING footage shows a bull thrashing in terror after it was set on fire by a mob of locals at a Spanish festival.

The cruel tradition sees men strap huge horns made of wood coated in tar to the poor animal's head.

6 Toro de fuego translates as 'bull of fire' Credit: AnimaNaturalis

The attachments are then set on fire, causing the terrified animal to smash into walls in an attempt to free themselves from the flames.

Toro de Fuego - meaning "bull of fire" - has been a day of festivities in Spain for centuries.

More than 3,000 bulls are torched across the country each year, activists say.

The latest shocking footage of the cruel tradition was filmed in the ancient town of Medinaceli.

6 The poor animal tries to free himself from the flames, sending tar and fire spilling over his back Credit: AnimaNaturalis

6 Disorientated and burning alive, hundreds pay to watch this 'spectacle' Credit: AnimaNaturalis

6 The bull is tethered up as the flames are ignited Credit: AnimaNaturalis

Despite phones being banned by organisers, animal rights group Anima Naturalis managed to expose the brutal event.

In the footage the bull, thought to be just a few years old, whips its head in a blind panic in front of a cheering crowd.

Lethal bullfights have declined by 60 per cent in the last 10 years due to falling attendance, according to an online campaign aiming to get Pope Francis to condemn the festival.

They stress that in that time, other events that involve extreme cruelty to animals have been banned due to protests.

6 Every year over 3,000 bulls are set on fire Credit: Rex Features

6 The bull charges, trying to escape the fire Credit: Rex Features

Steven Eke, one of the people behind the change.org protest said: "In the last 10 years, a powerful animal rights movement has emerged, making the best use it can of social media.

"The festivals in which goats were hanged or thrown from bell towers; bulls were turned into pin cushions by having metal darts inserted all over their bodies through blowpipes; and in which

the heads were ripped off live birds hanging from ropes, have been banned over the past 15 years.

"Unfortunately, the bullfights, calf mutilations, fire bulls, bull drownings and donkey crushing, continue, and they all involve extreme, deliberate cruelty for entertainment."

PETA Director Elisa Allen said the "agony the bulls must suffer is almost unimaginable".

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Speaking to the Metro, she said: "The fiery balls can burn for hours and they burn the bulls’ horns, eyes and other parts of their bodies and cause tremendous stress.

"It’s totally understandable that compassionate people would want to do anything they can to ease the bulls’ suffering.

"And history will not look back kindly on the people who support and enforce this sadistic and archaic event, of which the vast majority of Spanish people are ashamed."

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