Running of the Bulls in Pamplona – San Fermin

The  festival of San Fermín San Fermín, or the  Running of the Bulls as it’s more commonly known outside Spain, officially begins at midday on 6th July every year with the ‘Chupinazo’ which takes place on the balcony of the Casa Consistorial in  Pamplona. Thousands of people congregate in the square awaiting the mayor’s official announcement that the fiestas have begun, a rocket is launched and the partying begins.

History of the Running of the Bulls

The history of the bullrunning in  Pamplona is not clear. There is evidence of the festival from as far back as the 13th century when it seems the events took place in October as this coincided with the  festival of San Fermín San Fermín on October 10th. It seems that the modern day celebration has evolved from this as well as individual commercial and bullfighting fiestas which can be traced back to the 14th century.

Over many years the mainly religious  festival of San Fermín San Fermín was diluted by music, dancing, bullfights and markets such that the Pamplona Council proposed that the whole event be moved to July 7th when the weather is far more conducive to such a celebration. To this day  San Fermin remains a fixed date every year with the first bullrun at 8am on July 7th and the last at the same time on July 14th.

The joining together of the religious, commercial and bullfighting festivals and the move to July 7th led to the first official celebration of  Sanfermines in 1591. This inaugural fiesta was a low key affair in comparison to the modern day  running of the bulls as it only lasted two days although there was much merriment involving music, a procession and a bullfight. Dancing and fireworks became features of the festival over the next few years and the event was extended to July 10th.

The first evidence of foreigners turning up in  Pamplona for  San Fermín are recorded in chronicles from the 17th and 18th centuries when reference is made to the local clergy being concerned about “the abuse of drink and the permisiveness of young men and women”. By now there was plenty music, dancing, drinking, street theatre and  bull-running as the religious focus of the occasion took a back seat.

By the 19th century all kinds of fairground attractions were making their way to  Pamplona including human cannonballs and circus animals. The actual route of the bull run didn’t have a double security wall as is the case today so the bulls were able to escape, creating chaos in the streets of  Pamplona.

It was thanks to the writing of American writer Ernest Hemingway that  San Fermín developed the notoriety of today. The publication of his novel “The Sun Also Rises” in 1926 told the world about the  running of the bulls in Pamplona which attracted people from all over the world to this annual festival. Such is the popularity of the event that overcrowding is a serious problem and if you’re planning on staying there then you should book accommodation many months in advance.

The Bull Run – El Encierro

The  Pamplona bull run takes place at 8am every morning from 7th to 14th July (eight runs in total). Runners must be in the running area by 7.30am. The actual run stretches from the corral at Santo Domingo where the bulls are kept to the  bullring where they will fight that same afternoon. The length of the run is 825 metres and the average time of the run from start to finish is about three minutes. The streets through the old town which make up the bull run are walled off so the bulls can’t escape. Each day six fighting bulls run the route as well as six steers (castrated bulls).

The tension builds as the release of the bulls approaches and at 8am on the dot a rocket is fired to confirm that the gate has been opened at the Santo Domingo corral. Runners dressed in white with a red handkerchief around their necks pray to  San Fermín then a second rocket announces that the bulls have left. The bulls and the runners then proceed along the route.

First of all they climb Santo Domingo and go across the Ayuntamiento Square continuing down c/ Mercaderes. The most dangerous part of the bullrun approaches as there’s a closed curve leading into c/ Estafeta which is the longest stretch of the run. Next comes a small section of c/ Duque de Ahumada which is known as the Telefónica stretch.

The last stretch is also very risky as the route leads into a dead end street providing access to the Bull Ring.A third rocket is set off once all the bulls have entered the  bullring and the fourth, and final, rocket means that the bulls are now in the bullpen and the bullrun has finished. The vast number of people taking part in the bullrun nowadays adds to the already considerable danger of running alongside wild bulls weighing in the region of 700kg each.

A word of warning … With the drinks flowing and the party in full swing you could be forgiven for forgetting that running the bulls is an extremely dangerous activity. Under no circumstances should you even consider running if you’re intoxicated. Not only are drunken people a risk to themselves they are also a risk to everyone else. There are plenty security guards and first aid personnel but there is little they can do during the  running of the bulls such that 15 people have died and over 200 been seriously injured since 1924.

Reference:Span ish Fiesta: