The Bull Run
A Quick Summary
The bull run (Encierro) is the most well known part of the Pamplona Fiesta, San Fermin, and it is one of the reasons why thousands of people keep going back to San Fermin year after year. The Fiesta of San Fermin most commonly known around the world as the “Running of the Bulls” has been taking place for hundreds of years. The bulls are held in the lower corrals until the morning and are run up the street to the Plaza Del Toros to be fought that night.
There is a total of six bulls released along with six steers wearing cowbells to help herd the bulls up through the streets, and then approximately a minute later they release 3 more steer to act as a clean up crew to gather up and Bulls that have been separated form the pack or that have gotten turned around and heading the wrong direction. The steers are tamed and will not gore you but will trample you none the less.
The route of the Encierro, is on several different cobblestone streets of the old city center, and measures 825 meters in total. The Bulls are very fast and you will not be able to run the entire route of the Encierro. Runs generally last 2-3 minuets but have lasted as long as 12 as one did in 2002. This time is from when they igniate the first rocket releasing the bulls from the lower corrals until they are all safely inside the holding pins in the Plaza de Toros. A fast run is when the Bulls stay in a tight pack and move through the streets into the Plaza. A slow run is when the bulls get separated from each other, and/or turned around and headed the wrong way. This is when the encierro is the most dangerous, and the Bulls go after the crowds often goring one to several people.
The run takes place every morning starting on the 7th of July and running everyday until the 14th of July. The Encierro begins at 8am sharp with the ignition of a rocket. If you are in the right place to start you will have been in the street since 7:15-7:30. A few minutes before the bulls are released to run through the streets, men will entrust themselves to San Fermin, a small statue has been placed into a niche in the wall on Santo Domingo. The men will sing three times to the saint minutes before the first rocket(7:55, 7:57,7:59). The song goes like this: “We ask San Fermin, as our Patron, to guide us through the Bull Run and give us his blessing” The chants end with Viva San Fermin! Gora San Fermin! (Long live San Fermin)
At eight o’clock exactly the first rocket is launched announcing the opening of the gates of the small corrals’ of Santo Domingo. The firing of the second rocket indicates that all the bulls have left the corrals and are in the streets. From then on the animals run along the following course, there are seven sections of the course:
They run up1. Santo Domingo and make a turn into the 2. Town Hall Square(Ayuntamiento) and turn onto a street called 3. Mercaderes until they come to the corner of 4. Estafeta, which is the longest part of the course 303 meters, 5. then it is followed by a small street called Calle Duque de Ahumada(Telefonica), this give access to the 6. the tunnel called the Callejon, which leads into the 7. the bullring. Once all of the bulls have entered the ring the 3rd rocket is launched and when they are all in the corrals inside the bullring the 4th rocket is sounded and the run is over.
Estafeta just after the turn, finishing cleaning of the streets
Although all the stretches of the course are dangerous, the turns should always be taken on the inside since the bulls tend to slide to the outside of these curves. The first one is at the Ayuntamiento and should be taken on the inside or the LEFT. The bulls come up Santo Domingo very fast and have a tendency to slide into the wall on the right. The next corner that is the most dangerous is at Mercaderes and Estafeta nicknamed hamburger wall. NEVER take this corner on the outside, the bulls always slam into the barrier here and you will be pinned against the wall always stay to the right here.
The stretch between Estafeta and the BullRing are those that hold the most risk (this is the official Town Council point of view).
There is nowhere to escape the bulls along this stretch of the run except for a small break midway up. Stay out of doorways, you do not want to get pinned in a doorway with nowhere to escape to. The tunnel or Callejon is also a very dangerous place to be, often people will fall and this can create a pile up of people, which has happened in the past.
All sections of the route are looked over by a large number of police and first aid personnel. However, the danger of the run has meant the since 1924-1995 14 people have died and more than 200 have been seriously injured by the bulls. These statistics do not include the 1000’s of minor injuries that occur and are treated in the streets and released.
At present overcrowding is one of the main problems of the Encierro (The Running of the Bulls) and has increased the danger and the risk of injury. The official Town Council recommendation is that “the youths should not try to hold out for more than 50 meters” which I would consider to be a very sound bit of advice.