Running of the Bulls

Runners hiding behind the protection of an iron barricade.

The Running of the Bulls (in Spanish encierro, from the verb encerrar, to lock/shut up, to pen)^[1] is a practice that involves running in front of bulls that have been let loose on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets. The most famous running of the bulls is that of the nine-day festival of San Fermín in Pamplona,^[2] although they are held in towns and villages across Spain and in some cities in Mexico^[3] and southern France, during the summer. Unlike bullfights, which are performed by professionals, anyone may participate in an encierro.

The purpose of this event is the transport of the bulls from the off-site corrals where they had spent the night, to the bullring where they would be killed in the evening. Youngsters would jump among them to show off their bravado.

Injuries are common to the participants who may be gored or trampled,^[4] and to the bulls, whose hooves grip poorly on the paved or cobbled street surfaces.^[5]

The event

Pamplona, 7 July 2005. People climb to the fences as the bulls run by and cross the Town Hall Plaza

Before the running of the bulls, a set of wooden or iron barricades is erected to direct the bulls along the route and to block off sidestreets. There may be a double row of barricades along the route to allow runners to quickly exit in case of danger. The gaps in the barricades are wide enough for a person to slip through, but narrow enough to block a bull.

A group of large oxen are released at the end of the run to pick up any stragglers then a run is considered good if the bulls flow swiftly.^{[citation needed]} Whenever a bull gets separated from the herd, it can be very dangerous because it becomes disoriented and often attacks anything, or anyone who attracts its attention^{[citation needed]}. An Irish male was injured in 2008 during the running of the bulls.

Pamplona

Pamplona, 2007. Bulls enter the bullring following some runners. The oxen can be seen in the background of the picture.

The Pamplona^[2] encierro is the most popular in Spain and is broadcast live by two national television channels.^[6][7] It is the highest profile event of the San Fermin festival, which is held every year from July 6-14.^[2]. The first bull running is on July 7, followed by one on each of the following mornings of the festival, beginning every day at 8am.^[4]

Being over eighteen and entering the itinerary before 7:30. are the main requirements to participate. Other prohibitions are to run under the influence of alcohol, run in the opposite direction of the running or inciting the bulls. ^[4]

The event begins with runners singing three times "A San Fermín pedimos, por ser nuestro patrón, nos guíe en el encierro dándonos su bendición" ("We ask San Fermín, as our Patron, to guide us through the encierro and give us his blessing"), a prayer to a statue of Saint Fermin, patron of the festival and the city, to ask his protection. The singing finishes shouting “Viva San Fermín!, Gora San Fermín!” (Long live San Fermin, in Spanish and Basque). ^[4] Runners dress in the traditional clothing of the festival which consists of white shirt and trousers with a red waistband and neckerchief. In one hand, they hold the day's newspaper rolled to draw the bulls' attention from them if necessary.^[4] A first rocket is set off to alert the runners that the corral gate is open. A second rocket signals that all six bulls and six steers have been released. A third and forth rockets are signals of all the herd entering the bullring and its corral respectively, marking the end of the event.^[4] The average duration between the first rocket and the end of the encierro is around four minutes.^[4]

The herd is composed by the six bulls to be fought in the afternoon and six steers, which run with the bulls and three more leave the corral two minutes later. The function of the oxen is to guide the herd and are all the days of the festival the same.^[4] The average speed of the herd is 24 km/h (15 mph).^[4]

The length of the run is around 840 meters and goes through 4 streets of the old part of the village (Santo Domingo, Town Hall Square, Mercaderes and Estafeta) and a section called "Telefónica" before entering into the bullring.^[2] The fastest part of the route is up Santo Domingo and across the Town Hall Square, but the bulls often became separated at the entrance to Estafeta Street as they slow down. One or more would slip going into the turn at Estafeta, but with the use of the new anti-slip surfacing, most of the bulls negotiate the turn onto Estafeta and are often ahead of the steers. This has resulted in a quicker, but not safer run as the bulls are usually out ahead of the steers as they reach the lane.

Every year between 200 and 300 people are injured during the run although most injuries are contusions due to falls and are not serious.^[4] Since 1910, 14 people have been killed in Pamplona,^[4] the last person to be killed in the Pamplona's bull run was Fermín Etxeberria Iraneta a 63-year-old veteran runner from Pamplona who died in 2003 from a head injury ^[8] while the last person to be directly killed by the bull's horns was Matthew Tassio, an American tourist who was gored in 1995. ^[9]

The encierro of Pamplona has been depicted many times in literature, television or advertising. The cinema pioneer Louis Lumiére filmed the run in 1931.^[10] but was world wide known partly due to the descriptions of Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises and Death in the Afternoon.

Other examples

Fire bull and children running from it.

Although the most famous running of the bulls is that of San Fermín, ^[2] they are held in towns and villages across Spain, and in some cities in southern France during the summer. Examples are the bull run of San Sebastián de los Reyes, near Madrid, at the end of august which is the most popular of Spain after Pamplona, the bull run of Cuéllar, considered as the oldest of Spain since there are documents of its existence dating back to 1215, or the bull run of Navalcarnero held at night.

A variation is the nightly "fire bull" where balls of flammable material are placed on the horns. Nowadays the bull is often replaced by a runner carrying a frame on which fireworks are placed and dodgers, usually children, run to avoid the sparks.

Opposition

Many animal rights activists oppose the event. PETA activists have created the "running of the nudes", a demonstration the day before the beginning of San Fermín in Pamplona. By marching naked, they protest the festival and the following bullfight, arguing the bulls are tortured for entertainment.^[11]

The city of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, canceled its Sanmiguelada running of the bulls after 2006, citing public disorder associated with the event.^[12]

See also

• Bull-leaping
• Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu, India

References

1. ^ "Spanish-English Dictionary". WordReference.com. 2008. http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=encierro. Retrieved on 2008-07-21. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Sanfermin guide. Running of the bulls". Kukuxumusu. 2007. http://www.sanfermin.com/old/2006/guia.php?lang=eng. Retrieved on 2008-07-21. 
3. ^ "Bull-run hits liquor-fueled town", Feb. 2, 2009. "The tradition, enacted in a handful of Mexican towns, traces its roots back to the centuries-old Pamplona bull-run in Mexico's former colonial power." Retrieved March 4, 2009.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} "The Bull Run". Ayuntamiento de Pamplona (Council of Pamplona). http://www.pamplona.net/VerPagina.asp?IdPag=287&Idioma=5. Retrieved on 2008-07-21. 
5. ^ 13 are injured in Pamplona's running of the bulls
6. ^ "Sanfermines 2008". Cuatro. 2008. http://www.cuatro.com/programas/programa.html?type=Tes&xref=20080625ctoultpro_2. Retrieved on 2008-07-21. 
7. ^ "27 años de Sanfermines en TVE". RTVE. 2008. http://www.rtve.es/television/20080703/anos-sanfermines-tve/111770.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-07-21. 
8. ^ ^{a b} "La Fiesta". Press Association of Pamplona. http://www.sanferminprensa.com/eng/fiesta.htm. Retrieved on 2008-06-18. 
9. ^ "Tassio Death". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4679751.stm. Retrieved on 2008-07-01. 
10. ^ Encierro de toros in the Spanish-language Auñamendi Encyclopedia.
11. ^ Running of the Nudes. PETA official site.
12. ^ "No More Bull (Running, That Is) in San Miguel de Allende," Austin American-Statesman, May 24, 2007. Retrieved Mar. 4, 2009

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Encierros

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bous al carrer

• See the itinerary of the Encierro
• Guide, photos and videos about The Running of The Bulls in Pamplona
• 25 February 2006 - Running of the bulls in Campanar, Valencia
• Official website for the Running of the Bulls in New Orleans, Louisiana

Listening

• Here On Earth: Radio Without Borders - Running with the Bulls