Festival of San Fermín and Running of the Bulls
Yesterday was the first day of the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona. Each year, the festival officially launches with the blast of the chupinazo, a rocket fired at the Plaza del Castillo. San Fermín is probably the most well-known Spanish festival, with more than 2,500,000 Spaniards and people from all over the world joining the Pamplonians in celebration. Normally, the population of Pamplona is just 190,000!!!
Chupinazo at Plaza del Castillo
One of the most famous activities during San Fermín (which Ernest Hemingway helped make famous with his book The Sun Also Rises), is the Running of the Bulls which occurs daily from the 7th to the 14th of July at 8 am. The Running of the Bulls consists of young men (and sometimes women) running in front of the bulls from the corral (pen) at Santo Domingo, to the bull-ring, where the bulls will fight later that afternoon.
The run is around 800 meters long and it lasts approximately only 3 minutes, but it’s very dangerous as the road is full of curves and many times, the bulls slip up and get separated from the herd, which leaves some people running in between bulls (like being in a bull sandwich). There are professional runners that lead the bulls into the bullfighting ring, but there are also people too drunk to know what they are doing, which sometimes causes fatalities.
Running of the Bulls at the Festival of San Fermín
The partying during this festival is great; everybody dresses up in white with a red handkerchief around the neck. A lot of wine is drunk and sprayed everywhere, just like during the Haro Wine Festival. (By now you must think wine showers are part of our everyday routine, but it’s not always like this. We’re allowed to do it just a couple of times each year.) The mood during this time is very friendly, it’s like a huge, constant party with Spanish and foreign friends.
Drinking wine from a “bota”
By the way, I’ve got some great news. Today’s run was clean and without incidents! Stay tuned though, as today was the first run and they will last until July 14th!!
¡¡Viva San Fermín!!
Rocio
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