A minimum of 25 people was injured in the Northern Colombian city of Turbaco during its annual bullfighting festival. The tradition, called corraleja, is a part of the New Year celebrations with mostly amateur participants.

Four of the injured individuals are in the hospital and in critical condition after suffering wounds from the bulls. Corraleja is held in a five-day celebration, where people will leap inside a ring barehanded or with improvised rags as capes to get the crowd growing.

The bullring is made of wood with about a dozen participants, mostly are already drunk, jumping into it to taunt a bull. The tradition is also popular with tourists as it is close to the coastal town of Cartagena and many colorful bands are playing music throughout the festivities.

"People really enjoy it. This is a tradition of the Turbaco people that must be encouraged because it is a party, it is part of our culture and it doesn't involve cruelty to animals," Turbaco resident Wilman Alcala told EFE via BBC.

The bullfighting culture in Colombia started when the llaneros or cowboys used capes while pasturing cattle in the plains of the northern part of the country. The first ranches were made by Spaniards and passed down from one generation to another. The practice of bullfighting became a part of Colombia's history, heritage and culture.

However, the festivities made national headlines last year after the brutal killing of a bull by 20 people in Turbaco City. The bull was stabbed, stoned, beaten and kicked to death and received resentment from Colombia's Environment Minister Gabriel Vallejo.

"I have to say it is totally barbaric, where people with sticks, stones and knives, and with utter cruelty, kill the bull," Vallejo told the local radio as quoted by FOX News. Even the Attorney General's Office got involved when they conducted an investigation on Turbaco Mayor Myron Martinez and Julio Quintana, the organizer of the corraleja.

The incident was captured on video and uploaded on YouTube that divided the country in terms of preserving their bullfighting culture. Colombia's NGO AnimaNaturalis International called for the banning of the festivities.

Bullfighting was banned in the capital city of Bogota back in 2012 after Mayor Gustavo Petro's referendum. Nevertheless, Colombia's Constitutional Court overturned Mayor Petro's ban on the grounds of violating a bullfighter's rights to express his artistic side.

According to TeleSUR, traditional bullfighting festivals are still held in other Latin American countries including Mexico, Venezuela and Peru. Meanwhile, Ecuador has banned the killing of bulls during the event since 2011.