Why do Pamplonenses Celebrate San Fermin?

Pamplonenses celebrate San Fermines in honor of San Fermín, a Christian missionary, co-founder of Navarra. He was decapitated at the age fo 31 when he refused to stop spreading the word of God.

Originally, the celebration was a simple religious act, but with time, the party became bigger and bigger. In fact, the people who visit Pamplona between July 6 and July 14, make more emphasis on the party than the veneration of the Saint. I even doubt if most of these visitors know what the celebration represents. The celebration starts July 6 at midday with el Txupinazo (Chupinazo), a toss accompanied with the launching of a flare followed with a scream: “¡Viva San Fermín!” Although 2006 was a little different because the city’s mayor, Javier Esbuki, broke the tradition by screaming “¡Viva las fiestas de San Fermín!” because he is agnostic, lighting up a great controversy.

But the controversy did not affect the party, which continued in every corner of the city. It is sad the media don’t cover this impressive side of the celebration, and they only cover the encierro itself.

During San Fermines, Pamplona’s populations is multiplied by four, and people taint the streets with white and red, as they parade down the street with their San Fermin costumes: white clothes adorned with red belts and red handkerchiefs.

While the celebration lasts people befriend strangers, cultural and ideological differences disappear y and it is impossible to distinguish a person from the next because they all look alike. People don’t stop dancing and singing on the streets, and Pamplona transforms itself in the scenery of an open and never-ending party.

The city doesn’t sleep, but the visitors do, and they spread their sleeping bags in any patch of free grass they can find in plazas, street dividers of the main streets… They lay down to rest so they can continue the party later.

Encierros for San Fermines in Pamplona Spain, and a Crow that Parties and Forget about the City’s Patron

Since I can remember, every July 7th I would sit in front of the TV set with my family to watch the encierros for San Fermines.

This year, on July 7th I watched the bulls run once again, but this time I was there in person; only a wooden fence separated me from the beasts at Estafeta Street, Pamplona, Spain.

Previous years, I would ask myself what went through people’s minds that motivated them to run in front of those enormous animals.... And although I was not brave enough to run with the bulls this time around, I watched them from a close distance, which enabled me to understand the fan’s fervor and fanatism for this event.

On TV, the run seems insanely dangerous. Yet, after experienced runners explain to you the event’s rules, you realize it is not as dangerous as it appears to be. The runners enter the encierro at 7:45 a.m., 15 minutes before the run actually starts. This gives you plenty of time to go trhough the 800 meters from the start to the Plaza de Toros before the bulls are even released.

Those who run every year assure that the encierro is not dangerous since the bulls don’t attack people on purpose; they emphasize that most incidents occur when the runners break one of the rules, despite the fact the loudspeakers repeat them over and over again throughout the event. The most common accident occurs when one of runners try to caress the bull as they run; this act distracts the beast, which usually turns around and starts running in the opposite direction. Accidents also occur when people try to film or take pictures as they run,; run while intoxicated, or run with inappropriate footwear.

Even though Pamplonenses try to convince millions that the event is safe, many people choose to remain as mere spectators, and they get on top of anything imaginable in other to get a glance of this delirious and accelerating event.

Pamplona Does not only Dress Up for San Fermines

Outside of Spain, Pamplona only makes news in July, when Panplonenses wear their festive white clothes adorned with red scarves and hankerchiefs to give a toss during el chupinazo and run in the encierro of San Fermines.

Nevertheless, to my surprise, when I arrived at Pamplona in September, The city welcomed me with a party!

Bored, newly arrived to the city, and with nothing to do, I decided to go for a walk to get to know my new “home”, and found tons of people out in the streets. At the beginning, I was surprised. But then I rationalized that locals probably used Sundays afternoons to walk around town as a family.

However, it did not take long for me to discover I was mistaken.






Kids, grandparents and entire families ran along the streets trying to avoid the blows of rubber cachirorras given by men dressed in horse suits.

In the piazzas, dancers jumped and turned with handkerchiefs and baskets showcasing the traditional dances as they were cheered on by the spectator’s enthusiastic claps.

Along the streets, people’s voices were sporadically replaced by the tunes of the charanga’s(photo 3) clarinets and drums that announced the parade of “Gigantes y Cabezones” (photo 4), people dressed with giant paper mache heads that represented different public figures.

It was definitely not a normal weekend.

Pamplonenses’ were celebrating the “Small Parties”, a reduced version of San Fermines that allows locals to maintain the tradition and enjoy the celebration without the tourists, even though at this event the emblematic bulls are absent.
Even though Pamplona only makes news in July, its locals know how to have fun all year round.

For more information about Pamplona, Spain, and San Fermines, visit Pamplona’s official website.