Running of the bulls in Pamplona, Photo: wikimedia.org

The annual running of the bulls will be held in Pamplona

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The running of the bulls through the streets of the city Pamplona starts on July 6. Since July 6, and during the subsequent week, Pamplona, the capital of the Spanish province Navarra, will transform into a «boiler» that arouses deep passions. This running – is a usual summer event for many Spanish cities. However, only Pamplona managed to create special excitement around the running of furious bulls on its streets.

Hotels in Pamplona will host thousands of tourists who will come to the city in order to check their endurance, speed and other qualities necessary for a man running from the infuriated beast. The running of the bulls in Pamplona, which was originally known as El Encierro, was glorified to the whole world by Ernest Hemingway in his novel «Fiesta». Overall, the history of El Encierro is more than four centuries long. The first running of the bulls in Pamplona was held in the early 17th century.

The running usually starts on the Santo Domingo square, where, after firing a rocket, bulls are released and they run through the town up to the Plaza de Toros, where the corrida takes place.

The heat, in which everyone can participate, often becomes a place of tragedy. During the past ten years, no running of the bulls in Pamplona occurs without injuries. The bloodiest in the history of El Encierro was 1924, when 13 people were killed and 200 were wounded on the streets of Pamplona.

Citizens of Pamplona, who know about the features of the route, prefer to test themselves only on short distances and try to escape from the path of the bulls during the first hundred meters.

Animal rights advocates also do not remain on the sidelines. They, a couple of days before the running in Pamplona, arrange their own events as a protest, which, however, require some courage, because the participants are obliged to run naked through the streets of Pamplona.

Thereat, the running of the bulls in Pamplona - is only a part of a big festival of San Fermin or Fiestas de San Fermin, which is celebrated in honor of patron saint of the city. San Fermin festival begins with El Chupinazo - the opening ceremony at which Mayor of Pamplona welcomes event participants, and they in response launch hundreds of firecrackers and fireworks in the air. But the courage bordering with insanity - this is what distinguishes Saint Fermin in Pamplona. This is once again demonstrated by another holiday tradition - «angel’s jump», where you can make the jump from five-meter Navarreria water fountain in the center of the city. When city authorities tried to ban a dangerous pastime, the people of Pamplona began jumping of their own balconies as a protest.

Date: 03/07/2009