Pamplona Running Of The Bulls

The Running Of The Bulls

by Michael Black

Thousands of red-and-white-clad runners dash in chaos through narrow, cobblestone streets each year during the bull run of the San Fermin Fiesta in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona.

A group of six bulls, guided by a herd of steers, stampedes about half-a-mile from a corral to the bullring, where they meet their fate by matadors in afternoon bullfights.

The running of the bulls is the highlight of an eight day party that begins on July 7 and ends in the wee hours of July 14. Hundreds-of-thousands of visitors descend on Pamplona, capital of Spain's Navarre region, for the festival made famous in Ernest Hemingway's novel, The Sun Also Rises.

The race begins at 8:00 a.m. sharp with the firing of the first of three rockets. A second rocket alerts the runners that all the bulls have been released from the Santo Domingo corral and are stampeding down the blockaded streets to the bullring. A third rocket announces that all the beasts have arrived and been penned up in the bullring.

The runners, many that have been drinking all night, test their valor by sprinting with the bulls on their route to the bullring. The most daring runs as long as they can in front of the bulls' horns. Eventually some runners veer off to the side or climb the barriers that separate the bulls and runners from the spectators.

Many are drawn to the annual festival, which dates to 1591 and honors Pamplona's patron saint. At first, only the drovers were used to lead the bulls. But eventually the butcher's guild, who had the responsibility of buying the bulls, began to join in with the drovers and began to chase behind the bulls up to the bullring. As time passed, the event became increasingly popular and some people began to run in front of the bulls and not behind them.

The festival has grown steadily since that time. Huge crowds in recent years have made the runs more dangerous. Pamplona Mayor Javier Chourrat acknowledged that beginners often pose a great danger to experienced runners as to themselves. "This is one of the small problems of the festival," Chourrat said. "Not everyone comes with the basic knowledge to run with a certain degree of safety." Loudspeakers on the run site provide instructions in several languages, but the frenzied panic of the run often leaves little time to remember such instructions.

Spectators said this year's bull run was one of the most dangerous runs in recent years as recent rain made the bulls and runners slip on the wet streets. Since record-keeping began in 1924, 13 runners have been killed and more than 200 injured by the bulls.