Running With The Bulls

The ‘Running With The Bulls’ has a very long, and proud tradition in some parts of Spain. This festival, and extremely dangerous sporting event, has gained a lot of fame, and a bit of notoriety in Pamplona, which is located in the autonomous community of Navarra, in northern Spain. Bull running events are held in other towns in Spain and Mexico, but nowhere are they as renowned as they are in Pamplona.

In early to mid July, Pamplona comes alive with fiestas celebrating the patron saint of Navarra, San Fermin. Bull fighting and late night parties are just part of the mix. But of course many Spaniards, and tourists alike, come for the ‘Encierro de Toros,’ or the Running of the Bulls.

Some people believe this tradition got started hundreds of years ago, when men moving cattle and livestock across the land would get their cattle moving faster by exciting them. Some of the younger lads took to running in front of the agitated beast, and began competing with one another to see who could get out of harm’s way the fastest. And voila, ‘bull running’ was born.

Come July, when the parties get going in Navarra and Pamplona, the bull racers appear. At eight o’clock in the morning, six bulls that are destined for the ring (and death), along with six tame steer, are released from the Santo Domingo corrals. Two rockets signal the start of the event. The bulls run a little more than 800 meters from the corral to bullring. The race usually takes three minutes or so, but when an animal gets isolated from the others, the Bull Run can take a lot longer.

Volunteers, former matadors, police and security guards are peppered about the entire route, to help distract bulls should they corner an unlucky runner, or to offer first aid to those who are injured. But don’t fool yourself; this is a very risky business. In the last 100 years or thereabouts, 15 people have been killed during the Encierro de Toros, and thousands upon thousands have been injured, many gravely so.

Although there are huge crowds watching the event, this run isn’t for the faint of heart. You must be over 18 to participate, you can’t be drunk (that seems like common sense), and if you get scared, you aren’t allowed to jump over the police barricade. That’s only permitted if a specific bull has targeted you personally, and is trying to kill you. If this still sounds like loads of fun to you, why not head to Pamplona this summer and give it a try?