Thousands of thrill-seekers headed to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona last weekend to prove they could outrun – or at least avoid – fighting bulls.
As thousands of people dodged the animals’ horns, at least six people were injured yesterday. One participant was gored and five suffered bruises, local government sources in the Spanish city said.
Dramatic footage shows participants stumbling and covering their heads as they are trampled during the perilous race, which takes place over 850 metres through the narrow streets of the city centre.
Some revelers challenged the animals, leading commentators to say it was a miracle that no one was attacked, seriously injured or even killed.
Since records began in 1910, sixteen people have died at the annual festival, most recently in 2009. Many more have been injured while trying to avoid the wild animals.
The festivities, which include bull runs, concerts, religious processions and copious amounts of wine, were made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises.
Revellers brace themselves as a wild cow jumps over them, at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain, July 8, 2024
A ‘recortador’ (bull groomer) jumps over a bull in the Plaza de Toros bullring during a show after the first day of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 7, 2024
A recortador is run over by an angry bull in the Plaza de Toros bullring during a show after the first day of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona
A bull rams a recortador who fell to the ground during the ritual performance
Participants covered their heads as the bull jumped over them as he was driven into the arena
Participants run ahead of the ‘Cebada Gago’ bulls during the ‘encierro’ (running of the bulls) of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 8, 2024
A participant is hit by a young cow during a show after the second ‘encierro’ (running of the bulls) of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona
A reveller jumps over a wild cow at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona
Participants run ahead of the ‘Cebada Gago’ bulls during the ‘encierro’ (running of the bulls) of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona
Participants run ahead of the ‘Cebada Gago’ bulls during the ‘encierro’ (bull running) of the San Fermin festival
On Sunday, a man was speared and five others were taken to hospital with trauma.
A 37-year-old man from Beriain, near Pamplona where the festival takes place every July, suffered the only bleeding injury, reportedly to the roof of his mouth.
The other five victims were a 54-year-old man from New York. All six runners who required hospital treatment were men.
The curtain rose on Saturday on nine days of festivities as thousands of people filled the city’s central square for the ‘chupinazo’ – the fireworks display that kicks off an event with origins in the Middle Ages.
Partygoers dressed in the essential white outfits with a red bandana around their neck and celebrated by showering each other with wine and sangria.
The running of the bulls on Sunday morning at 8am was the first of eight so-called encierros, the highlight of the festival.
Two of the six fighting bulls, led by six oxen, broke away from the rest of the group during the half-mile race through the streets of Pamplona’s old town.
They remained in the arena for over a minute at the end of the course before the herders led them away from the riders gathered around them into the pens.
The bulls that run every morning are killed in the afternoon by professional bullfighters.
Participants run ahead of the ‘Cebada Gago’ bulls during the ‘encierro’ (running of the bulls) of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 8, 2024
Participants in red and white clothing run ahead of the ‘Cebada Gago’ bulls during the ‘encierro’
The animals run from their enclosure to the arena through the narrow streets of the old town over a distance of 850 meters.
Every year, between 200 and 300 people are injured during the festival, often foreigners from Britain, the US and Australia.
The most recent death occurred in 2009, when 27-year-old Daniel Jimeno from Madrid was gored in the neck by a bull named Capuchino.
Animal rights activists campaign against the festival every year, saying it is cruel to animals who are goaded into killing them in front of a roaring crowd.