IN PICS | Parties and protests at Pamplona's epic bull run 2023

Thousands of thrill-seekers are taking part this week in the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

The event, known as the Encierro in Spanish, takes place annually from July 6-14 in the northern city as part of the larger Festival of San Fermín. Dating from the 12th century, the festival was originally a religious celebration honouring the city’s first bishop and patron saint, but it has over the years morphed into a nine-day party that draws millions of revellers — last year’s count was 1.7-million — to enjoy parades, drinking, food, traditional sports and fireworks. The daily bull run, however, is considered by many to be the main event.

BULLFIGHTING AND THE BULL RUN 

Once part of the Roman Empire, Spain owes its bullfighting tradition in part to the gladiator games. This particular “game”, known as corrida de toros, involves a matador or bullfighter engaging in a ritualised performance with a bull in an arena. The objective is for the matador to display skill and courage in facing — and ultimately killing — the bull.

Bullfighting in Spain was recorded as early as 711 CE, and Pamplona’s bull run can be traced to the early 14th century when farmers would bring bulls from the countryside to the city's bullring for their encounters with the matadors. To keep the bulls moving towards the bullring, young men would run alongside them. 

Over time, this practice grew in popularity and became a central part of the San Fermín festival. The first recorded encierro took place in the late 16th century but it gained international attention much later, largely thanks to American writer Ernest Hemingway. He attended the festival in the 1920s and wrote about it in his novel 1926 The Sun Also Rises. His vivid descriptions of the event introduced it to a global audience.

HOW IT ALL BEGINS

The festival kicks off with an opening ceremony in the square outside the town hall in front of thousands of festivalgoers, many wearing white shirts stained with red wine or sangria. The firing of a rocket — El Chupinazo — officially marks the beginning of the fiesta. According to custom, Pamplona’s mayor chooses who will launch the rocket every year. Usually, this is a newly elected city council representative, but local soccer heroes have also had the honour. This year the rocket was fired by Luis Sabalza, the president of local football club Osasuna.

BRING ON THE BULLS 

At the modern event, 12 bulls and steers are let loose from a corral every morning at 8am. While spectators cheer from the safety of balconies or behind barriers, participants, known as “runners” or mozos, run in front of them along a designated route that leads to the bullring. Spaniards across the nation can follow the action on live TV. 

The run covers 875m through the narrow streets of the old town. The bulls, weighing about 1,000kg, charge through the streets, while runners try to stay ahead of them. It’s all over in a few minutes, but it is an intense, dangerous few minutes, where the runners risk serious injury. Since record-keeping began in 1910, 15 people have been killed in the run, most of them due to being gored.   

CONTROVERSY

Animal rights activists have long objected to the tradition. Every year since 2002, Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and a local group called AnimaNaturalis have staged dramatic protests in Pamplona to draw attention to the cruelty of the bull run and the subsequent bullfights.

They argue that the run is traumatising and dangerous for the bulls, which often fall down or crash into barriers, and that the bullfights — in which a series of barbed sticks called banderillas are used to weaken and exhaust the bull before it is finally killed with a sword — inflict unnecessary suffering. They argue that the prolonged and painful death of the bull for entertainment purposes is unacceptable in modern society.

In past years, protesters have joined in a “naked run” to draw attention to their cause, and staged demonstrations where they doused themselves in fake blood and lay down in the streets. When the festival was cancelled in 2020 for the first time in decades due to the pandemic, Peta offered the city €250,000 (about R5m) to make the ban permanent. Of course, it did not accept.

This year, protesters gathered outside the town hall wearing nothing but horns and red floor-length veils to represent the “sea of blood” that the bull runs will create. 

In recent years, there has been a shift in public opinion regarding bullfighting in Spain. The practice has faced increasing criticism and declining popularity, particularly among younger generations. Some regions, such as Catalonia, have banned it. But it still has a large number of supporters who view it as an integral part of culture and tradition. They argue that it is an art form, a display of bravery, and a celebration of Spanish heritage. 

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