Pamplona

About Pamplona

From the ninth century, Pamplona is the capital of Navarre, the province in northern Spain. It is considered that it was founded by the Roman general Pompey.

Ernest Hemingway made this place and its fiesta popular when he published his work, “Sun is born again”.

Viva San Fermin!

At noon on the 6th of July, a fiesta begins with the sound of exploding rockets in front of the city hall. Then a bunch of people with red handkerchiefs tied around their necks sing and shout “Viva San Fermin!”. However, on the last night of 14 July, people carry candles and sing Basque songs on the main square.

This celebration is the feast of San Fermin that lasts eight days and it is the sum of infinite wild entertainment, fireworks, parade, music and dance.

Early waking up!

Every morning before the race starts, Pamplona Municipal orchestra goes through the streets of the city to wake those who are still asleep, and to announce the start of the Fiesta.

So at 6:00 a.m. the “bands” meet in the square in front of the Municipal Building and then diverge playing to go into all parts of the old part of town (where, of course, all this is maintained).

However, at 8 a.m. each day Encierro (the Bulls) appear. Six bulls are released freely to run down cobbled streets of the old town and the arena where bullfighting takes place at night. Everyday, men use the opportunity to run with them through the streets, risking injuries or even death.

If this sounds too dangerous, do not forget that Pamplona also has the most beautiful medieval military architecture of Spain, citadel in the shape of a star and city walls, which were built by Philip II to defend the city against French depredations.

Even though every year defenders of animals’ rights protest against the cruelty to bulls, the race is still held. There are lots of participants who do not care about the fact that the feast took 14 people in 1924.

History of the fiesta

Otherwise, the history of the race itself is quite simple and without pomp. In the early period when the shepherds brought bulls in front of the walls of Pamplona, they spend the nights in its vicinity and on the day of fighting bulls, before daybreak they would enter the city running and speeding.

Moreover, they were supervised by men on horses. However, people who did not have horses helped shepherds with sticks to bring the bulls as quickly as possible. As time went by, no one knows when people began to run behind and then in front of the bulls.