Pictured: Bullfighter takes leap of faith on first day of Pamplona festival

A bullfighter was pictured fearlessly soaring over the charging animal in a performance display on the first day of the San Fermin festival in northern Spain. 

The recortador leaped over the horned animal as thousands looked on in the Plaza de Toros, Pamplona, and several other performers in red and white were clipped by the bull’s horns. 

The spectacle was part of a week-long annual festival most known for the running of the bulls event, in which large crowds are chased through the streets by a pack of bulls every morning at 8am. 

The run – or encierro – sees the bulls charge 850 metres through the streets of Pamplona for between three and five minutes to the bullring where they will perform later in the day. The event injures up to 300 each year. 

The six animals are then taken into the Plaza de Toros in the evening for the recortador performance before being killed, causing the festival to face criticism from animal rights groups such as Peta.  

The ceremony has remained unchanged since 1852, with the San Fermin festival itself dating back to the 14th century.