A veteran Spanish matador was horrifically gored through the leg during a bull fight in Madrid.Serafín Marín, 42, suffered a 30cm deep goring during the bull's third pass at Las Ventas, Spain's largest bullring, on Sunday.More than 8,000 people in the crowd could only watch as the experienced Catalan was hoisted into the air on the bull's right horn, impaled and thrown to the ground.As the white-footed bull turned to face Marín, four others wearing traditional garb intervened with capes to distract the bull.Mexican bullfighter Juan Pablo Sánchez stepped in to fight Estafador, the bull, in his place as Marín was carried to the infirmary on site, La Vanguardia reports.'I didn't realise I had been gored until I entered the infirmary,' Marín said today, after a night in hospital.'I was really stunned and dizzy from the blow to the head ... and I was bleeding a lot,' he said, adding that he was 'caught completely off guard and unable to react'.Marín was the last matador to face a bull in his native Catalonia, which became the first region of Spain to ban the spectacle in 2012. Marín is lifted into the air before being gored by Estafador the bull on Sunday Footage showed how Marín was thrust into the air and dropped in the sandThe bullfighter was on his first pass of the season on Sunday when the opening bull struck and gored him through the leg.He had just executed a careful verónica pass, moving the cape slowly from one side of the body to the other with both hands, when the bull turned to 'direct its gaze toward the bullfighter's groin', El Pais reported.Marín was seen in footage from the edge of the arena being thrust up into the air and dropped down in the sand as the bull again turned to make another pass.The bullfighter was left face down and bloodied, requiring help from colleagues to get to his feet.'He got up with the strap of his bag torn and blood pouring from his temple,' Spanish outlet Aplausos reported.Marín collapsed before being taken to the infirmary, according to local reports.A medical report found the bull's horn had torn through the outside of the right thigh, with an upward trajectory of some 30cm.He was operated on locally before being taken to the Fraternidad Muprespa-Habana Hospital in Chamartín.Marín said that he spent the night in the hospital 'in a lot of pain'.He said he had been preparing for the bullfight all year.'I'll have to wait another year so the fans can see that I still have a lot to say in bullfighting.' Thousands of bulls are killed in events across Europe every year.The animals are chased, tormented and stabbed, before a matador kills the animal by plunging a knife into its lungs. Two days prior, PETA France activists were arrested during the opening bullfight of the Feria des Vendanges after storming the ground in protest. The veteran bullfighter was impaled through the leg with a 30cm trajectory on Sunday A French content creator was detained after storming an arena in France on FridayFrench content creator Jermstar, held a sign reading 'F*ck the bullfight,' and was violently pushed to the ground and dragged out of the arena by several men. One of the protesters broke his foot before he was apprehended, PETA reported. All three had been in custody since Friday night, the group said on Sunday.'I wanted to take part in this action alongside PETA because watching images of bulls being tortured to death during bullfights shocked me and should chill the blood of anyone with a modicum of empathy,' said Jeremstar. 'There is no justification for stabbing terrified animals or applauding as they slowly die in the ring. That's torture, not culture!'