PHOTOS: OMG! SEE How A Man Was Gored By A Bull

This is the eye-watering moment a man was gored by a bull after falling to the ground as the traditional running of the bulls festivals got underway with the first of the runs being held across Spain today.

The bull charged at the man and attacked him with its horns as he lay on the ground, surrounded by concerned onlookers.

The shocking moment occurred during the Bous a la Mar (Bulls in the Sea) festival, in Denia, near Alicanta, on the eastern coast of Spain, in which men emerge from protective barriers and encourage bulls to chase them.

The festival was taking place as thousands of runners raced alongside fighting bulls through the streets of the northern Spanish city of Pamplona.

Jose Aldaba, a spokesman for Spain's Red Cross, said four people were taken to a city hospital for injuries sustained in the 8am run, the first of the annual San Fermin festival, which is now in its second day. One was gored in the thigh.

A statement from the Navarra regional government said all four were Spanish but none was in serious condition.

The controversial running of the bulls festival sees people racing with the bulls along a narrow 850 metre course from a holding pen to the city bull ring. 

The run itself lasted just over two minutes.

Dozens of people are injured each year in the 'encierros,' as the runs are called in Spanish. Most get hurt in falls.

Fifteen people have died from gorings since record-keeping began in 1924. 

The nine-day fiesta was immortalized in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel 'The Sun Also Rises' and attracts thousands of foreign tourists. 

The bulls which take part each morning are invariably killed by matadors in evening bull fights, and their meat is served up in Pamplona's restaurants.

Animals rights groups have previously slammed the event, branding it cruel to the bulls forced to run.

A PETA spokesman last year slammed the event, and called for a boycott of the annual festival.

They said: 'In this day and age, it's appalling that sensitive animals are still being tormented and killed in front of a screaming crowd.

'PETA and Spanish group AnimaNaturalis are joining compassionate people from around the world in condemning this cruel blood sport – and in urging tourists to stay far away from the bullfights.'

The run and subsequent parties were originally organised in honor of San Fermin, patron saint of Navarra, although the religious aspect has now faded.