The Running of the Bulls blog » Bulls

This is dangerous, baby!

estafetakoa — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:29:09 +0000

My dear and unknown foreign reader,

Sometimes I wonder why people from the other side of the world are coming to our city in order to run the bulls. Do you know or understand why people from Pamplona do that? Do you admire our traditions and want to imitate us? Or are you a simple fan of risky sports like rafting or so and want to have a go at the ‘Encierro’?

Sincerely I wouldn’t travel to jump into the Krakatoa vulcano, for instance, although I love native traditions.

So why do you come here? Does blood attract you? Do you really know that you may loose your life or make somebody else to loose it?

If you see the photo below, are you still interested in running or are you even more interested?

Please, let me know your opinion, dear reader…

El Toro

estafetakoa — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:54:40 +0000

Toro. This is the Spanish word for bull. A short and strong word. During San Fermin festival, bull is the King in Pamplona. Although the festival is dedicated to San Fermin, everything goes around the bull. A week before San Fermin bulls arrive in Pamplona from their homelands in Castilla and Andalucia. You may visit those splendid animals at Corrales del Gas, Errotazar Street. They spend their last days in Pamplona in a beautiful and quiet place close to Arga River. When you see them so relaxed, it is difficult to realize how fierce and brave may be in streets and bullring.

The night before their running, bulls, acompanied by oxen, go from Corrales del Gas to Corralillos de Santo Domingo. They will sleep there and at 8 o’clock in the morning, they will play the main role in the most famous race in world. Pamplona stops breathing during the two or three minutes bulls need to arrive at the Bull Ring.

Those six bulls will die at the arena that afternoon. Lots of runners will attend this ceremony as spectators at the Bull Ring.

This ancestral rite about life and death will be completed some days later, when you eat a delicious ‘estofado de toro’, bull meat cooked with potatoes, carrots, spices and some other secret ingredients.

You may think we are cruel and behave as barbarians, so let’s discuss about it…

Free access to the running of the bulls?

joseba — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:32:03 +0000

There is a lot of controversy here in Pamplona about how to regulate or put a limit to the number of participants in the running of the bulls.
As you may know, anyone who wants to take part in it does not need to apply for any permissions, as it is open to almost everyone who wants to participate; as long as you comply with some very simple rules such as, for example, not being blind drunk (difficult thing sometimes!), or not carrying bulky things (for example a backpack).
If you want some more information about this, click on the link to the Council’s website.

But let’s keep to the point; the fact that this being an open event, has ended up jeopardizing its own future.
There are so many participants that the bulls are mostly surrounded by people (especially on weekends) and therefore it is getting more and more difficult for the runners to really enjoy the event as the streets are overcrowded.
As a matter of fact, one has to pay as much attention to other runners as to the bulls themselves.
Additionally, live broadcast on TV is attracting a lot of people who do not run for the sake of it, but just because they want to have their fifteen minutes of fame.

So the question is now, who has the right to decide who can run and who can’t? and how can this be done?

San Fermin all the year round. Reality or Utopia?

rajauta — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 23:02:34 +0000

It is obvious that Sanfermines (our festival) is very closely connected to Pamplona’s tourist offer. It has always been like that, but the news is that there is a project to extend the duration of the fiesta and cover all year round.

Is it a challenge to measure the popularity of the Sanfermines, or is it a tourist resource to improve the economy of the town?. We all know that money makes the world go round, so why not use the popularity of the festival to promote tourism in Pamplona?.

It is for sure that Sanfermines will not benefit much from it, since Sanfermines is a festival known in the whole world for itself and does not really need to increase its popularity.

Usually we complain on Saturdays during Sanfermines, because of the big amount of visitors (over 200.000 in the first weekend of ‘ 07).

If it becomes even more popular … we will have to organise additional ‘’encierro’’ (running of the bulls) in every neighbourhood of the city, to distribute the more than 3.500 corridors on weekends! … of course of 825 meters each one of them….

It is clear that if we say that one of the key differences with other festivals, as for example the April fair in Seville, is the atmosphere in the street … I don’t know how it will be possible to keep this same atmosphere 365 days a year!. With this, we forget one of the fundamental points of the festival … the people. Bad choice.

Greetings

joseba — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:31:18 +0000

Hello everyone!
It is our intention to try and share our own experiences about our festival with those of you who are interested in it and (if possible) answer any questions you may have.
We call this fiesta ‘Sanfermin’, but this name is probably unknown for most of you, as it is not widely used in English to name this event.
You might have heard the expression ‘the running of the bulls’ or something like that on TV last time you saw a crazy bunch of people running in front of six fierce bulls in the streets of Pamplona (yes, that is the name of our old town).
Maybe some of you have even read Hemingway’s ‘The sun also rises’ (a very good description of our festival as it was in the twenties and not really that far from what it is now).
Still, it does not matter how you have heard of it; if you would like to have a go at something different, just come and enjoy the fiesta.