Michael Coy
“Toros de lidia” (fighting bulls) are famously aggressive, but they are also herd animals. When they are in a group, together with castrated bulls (steers), they are still dangerous, but a little more manageable.
It is this aspect of bull psychology which has given rise to the world-renowned “Encierro”, or Running of the Bulls, in Pamplona.
Every day during the first week of July six fighting bulls, mingled with six steers, are set loose in the heart of town. Brave (or reckless) humans run along with them.
Ernest Hemingway came here in the 1920s, and wrote about it in various books. He transformed it from a tiny local festival into a global feat of courage.
This year, the Encierro will start on 6 July.
Before Hemingway, the “running” used to start at six in the morning. Between 1924 and 1974 (except for the years of the Civil War, when the bulls didn’t run) it began an hour later.
Since then, the starting-time has been eight o’clock. It is screened live each morning on mainstream Spanish TV.
The traditional route (2,707 feet long) in downtown Pamplona is fenced off, to prevent the bulls from disappearing down side streets.
Runners tend to dress in all white, with a red neckerchief. They gather to pray to a statue of San Fermín, and, once that’s done, the “running” begins.
It is impossible from the humans’ starting-point to see the corral where the bulls are waiting, so a rocket is launched to warn the runners that the gate is open and the bulls are now on their way.
There will be a real bullfight later in the day, and these six bulls will die in the ring.
The “running of the bulls” ends when the animals are all inside the bullring. There, they are quickly rounded-up and enclosed. Once the danger is over, another rocket is fired.
It should be pointed out that there are frequently casualties.
No human has died since 2009, but in the last hundred years there have been 15 fatalities. Every year there are about 300 injuries, but most of these are minor contusions resulting from falls.
Regular runners – there are people who do it year after year – have two pieces of advice. The first one is, lay off the alcohol. Hemingway is not a good guide in this respect.
In “The Sun Also Rises” (1957), the Errol Flynn character is clearly inebriated as he lines up to run with the bulls. If your life depends on the quickness and appropriateness of your reactions, sobriety is recommended.
The second piece of advice is, if you fall, lie still.
Fighting bulls have never, in their five years of life, met a human on foot. They have experience of attacking opponents on the ground, and the evidence shows clearly that most severe injuries are a result of bulls attacking a prostrate ‘enemy’ who catches their eye.
If you keep still, they will run past you.
We can’t conclude this piece about San Fermín without mentioning “La Menada”.
Hemingway himself must accept some of the blame, though of course in his day social norms were different.
There is a strong sexist element surrounding San Fermín. Women are now permitted to run with the bulls, but many traditionalists regard this as sacrilege.
Hemingway writes quite openly about “taking prisoners”.
What he means is, he and his drinking buddies (San Fermín is, for thousands, primarily a week-long alcoholic stupor) would “capture” any pretty girls they met.
Perhaps abduction is too strong a term, but certainly the young women ‘seized’ by the Hemingway crew had their freedom restricted.
In 2016, a group of five young Spanish men showed up at San Fermín. Ominously, they gave themselves the collective name of ‘La Manada’ (“the pack”).
In Spanish, a group of non-aggressive animals (like sheep) is a “rebaña”, but “manada” signifies a group of predators. At some point in their revels the young men ‘acquired’ a girl and raped her.
The case is still going on, nine years later.
They have argued that she was drunk, too. The courts have repeatedly pointed out that being drunk isn’t an invitation to rape, and doesn’t excuse their behaviour (they made videos of it all).
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Animal cruelty and violence against women. How’s this disgusting event still happening in 2025?