A renowned Spanish bullfighter has died after he tripped on his cloak and was fatally gored in a ring in France. 
 
 Ivan Fandino, 36, who was a professional matador for 12 years, was performing at the Aire-sur-l'Adour bullfighting festival in the town of Mont de Marsan, near the Spanish border. 
 
 The Basque fighter fell to the ground after tripping on a cape used in a turn to engage and distract the specially-bred fighting bull, and the animal plunged one of its horns into the matador's side, Spanish news agency EFE reported. 
 
 Hospital authorities declined to comment but an independent medical source said that Fandino had suffered two heart attacks in an ambulance and died later in hospital. 
 
 Image: Fandino was a professional matador for 12 years 
 
 Fandino is the second Spanish bullfighter to die in the ring in the past year. 
 
 Victor Barrio was killed after being gored by a bull in front of spectators last July, the first time since the early 1990s a professional matador had died in the ring in Spain. 
 
 The centuries-old tradition of bullfighting remains popular in Spain, with around 1,800 shows a year before a total audience of some six million who view the sport as an art integral to Spanish culture. 
 
 But authorities are under increasing pressure to clamp down on the sport on animal rights grounds. 
 
 Activists renewed calls for a total ban after Barrio's death, saying the tradition is both cruel and anachronistic, while a year ago the regional government of Castilla y Leon banned the killing of bulls at town festivals. ||||| Image copyright Reuters Image caption Fandino, pictured here in Seville in 2015, had been injured by a bull before 
 
 A Spanish bullfighter has died after being gored during a festival in southwest France. 
 
 Ivan Fandino, 36, caught his feet in his cloak and fell to the floor, where he was gored by the bull. 
 
 He suffered a lung injury and died on his way to hospital from a heart attack on Saturday, French media say. 
 
 Fandino, who was taking part in the Aire-sur-l'Adour bullfighting festival near Pau, is reportedly the first matador to die in France in a century. 
 
 The Basque-born matador had already taken part in a competition earlier in the day before he was injured. 
 
 Photographs showed he was conscious, but bleeding heavily, as he was led away from the ring. 
 
 Last July, bullfighter Victor Barrio, 29, became the first matador to die in Spain in 30 years after he was gored during an event being aired live on television. 
 
 France's Sud-Ouest newspaper said the last matador fatality in France was in 1921, when Isidoro Mari Fernando died in the arena in Béziers. 
 
 Image copyright EPA Image caption Fandino was thrown in the air by a bull in Pamplona in 2015 
 
 Fandino had been injured at least twice in previous events - once in 2015, when thrown into the air by a bull in Pamplona, Spain, but more seriously the year before when he was knocked unconscious in Bayonne, France. 
 
 Opponents describe the blood-soaked pageants as barbaric, while fans say the tradition is an ancient art form deeply rooted in national history. 
 
 Bullfighting was declared legal in France in 2012 after the Constitutional Council rejected a plea from animal rights campaigners to ban the practice. 
 
 More than 1,000 bulls are killed annually in French bullfights, the AFP news agency reported at the time. 
 
 Although bullfighting originated in neighbouring Spain, it took root in France a century and a half ago. Fights - known as corridas in Spain - are especially popular in the Nimes and Arles areas.
– In a profession with little room for error, Ivan Fandino made one that cost him his life on Saturday: The 36-year-old Spanish bullfighter tripped on his cape while in the ring in France, sending him to the ground, where a bull gored him in the chest, reports Sky News. Fandino's lung was injured, and he suffered a heart attack on the way to the hospital, reports the BBC. His death is the second of a matador in the past year; Victor Barrio was gored to death on live television in July, an incident which raised renewed calls to end an ancient sport many view as barbaric. Though known for its roots in Spain, bullfighting was legalized in France in 2012; the AFP noted at the time that around 1,000 bulls are killed annually in France. Fandino, who was performing at a festival near the Spanish border, is only the second matador to die in France in nearly a century.