A man required medical attention after running in the sixth running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on Saturday (July 12). Every year, thousands of people attend the week-long festival and its famous “encierros” or bull runs, which take place every day at 8am through the narrow streets of the old town over an 850-metre (2,800-foot) course.
During the bull run, runners, who often take part in their hundreds, are required to stay just ahead of the bulls without falling over or being gored. These new pictures show, however, that not everyone was successful on Saturday’s run. A young man wearing white has been pictured lying on his back on the ground, surrounded by medical personnel as they attend to him. Other, rather horrifying pictures show several men lying on the ground, while the huge animals trample right over them, continuing along the cobbled street course.
The festival of San Fermin is a traditional, week-long festival held annually in the city of Pamplona, in Navarre. It is known locally as Sanfermines in Spanish and Sanferminak in Basque and is held in honour of Saint Fermin, the co-patron of Navarre.
A different encaste (sub-breed) of bull appears on each day of the festival and the run ends in Pamplona’s bullring. Since 1925, 15 people have been killed during the event, most recently in 2009. Every year, between 200 to 300 people are injured during the run, although most injuries are just burises as a result of a fall.
The event, however, is controversial. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals charity) and the Spanish animal rights group AnimalNaturalis say it is cruel to the animals participating and should be stopped. They argue that spectators often do not realise the bulls used in the runs end up being killed in bullfights afterwards.
PETA said the protest was to show that: “This vile event should go the way of the dinosaurs and a new, animal-free celebration be created. Tradition is never an excuse for cruelty”.
The fame and impressive number of foreign visitors it receives every year are related to the description in Ernest Hemingway’s book The Sun Also Rises and the reports he made as a journalist. He first visited in 1923 and returned many times until 1959. Spain’s national state-owned broadcaster, Televisión Española (TVE) broadcasts the event live nationwide as well as internationally, for those unable to attend in person.
The celebrations start at noon on July 6 and continue until midnight on July 14. A firework (chupinazo) starts the celebrations at 12pm from a city hall balcony and the popular song “Pobre de mi” is sung at the end.
The bull runs are not the only events during the festival; there are many other traditional and folkloric events. On July 7, people accompany the 15th-century statue of Saint Fermin through the old part of Pamplona. The statue is accompanied by dancers and street entertainers, as well as different political and religious authorities, including the city mayor and the Bishop of Pamplona, who leads High Mass before the event.
Meanwhile, El Struendo (“The Roar”) is an event which has been a tradition since at least 1975. It is purposely not part of the official program; each year, it occurs on a different day of the festival and usually a weekday to reduce crowd size. People gather at City Hall and make as much noise as possible for several hours, using noisemakers that include drums, cymbals, bowls, whistles and pans.