A French tourist who participated in the bull-running festival of a Spanish village died on Tuesday after he was gored by one of the animals, Pedreguer's municipal authorities said.

Official sources declined to name the 44-year-old man but said he was killed on the spot in the early morning hours, Reuters reported. In the traditional "Bous al carrer" event, bulls are released into village streets in a tradition that marks an initiation rite to adulthood for many young residents.

"Around 1 o'clock in the morning, (the tourist) was gored by the bull, which led to very severe injuries," Pedreguer Mayor Sergi Ferrús told L'Express. "The medical team that intervened could not do anything but declare him dead."

The bull-running festival in the community 50 miles north of Alicante, in the country's south, was immediately suspended, Ferrús assured the French magazine.

The municipal government also extended its "support and condolences" to the family and loved ones of the killed tourist, La Vanguardia noted. It urged residents and visitors who participate in town events to do so in a "responsible" fashion, as well as "in accordance with safety procedures."

The incident in Pedreguer occurred just as Spain's most famous bull-running festival, San Fermín in Pamplona, came to an end on Tuesday, the Independent recalled. No fatalities were reported this year at the traditional event in the Navarre city, but two more people have recently died at similar events across the Iberian nation.

Ever since the Pamplona spectacle was immortalized in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises," tourists from all over the world have traveled to Spain to participate in a tradition that dates back to the 16th century, the newspaper explained. But the bull-running has also drawn widespread criticism from animal-rights activists.

Earlier this month, supporters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and allied groups demonstrated against the event outside the entrance to the Pamplona bullring, according to the Independent.

"PETA is calling on Spain to end its widely condemned 'Running of the Bulls' event - and, with it, the horrific suffering and abuse of bulls," the group's director, Mimi Bekhechi, noted.