Running of the bulls festival begins

TENS of thousands of people crowded into Pamplona’s main square to celebrate the launching of a rocket that each year marks the beginning of Spain’s most famous bull-running festival.

“Men and women of Pamplona, all hail to San Fermin,” town councillor Uxe Barkos said from a balcony overlooking the crowd before lighting the fuse, signalling the beginning of nine days of uninterrupted festivities in the northern town.

The San Fermin festival is known around the world for its running of the bulls. The mood and tradition was made famous in 1926 by Ernest Hemingway in his novel The Sun Also Rises.

Most revellers sported traditional white trousers and shirts with a red neckerchief tied at the front.

After a night of drinking, all were covered in copious amounts of wine, sangria, sparkling wine and other drinks.

Residents poured buckets of water over the crowd from their balconies to help cool them down.

Stephanie Degonda, 21, of Minnesota, had come for the first time.

“It’s incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” she said.

The first bull run took place yesterday, an event repeated daily until July 14, and all are broadcast on state television.

Each run takes place at 8am, testing the skills and courage of the participants, who must race alongside six fearsome fighting bulls along 800 meters of narrow streets linking the city’s stables to the bullring.

On the afternoon of each day, the bulls must face matadors in the ring.

Since record keeping began in 1924, 13 people have been killed in the running of the bulls.

The last victim was a 22-year-old American gored to death in 1995.

It is customary for hundreds of animal rights activists to protest against the bull-running.

Half naked, they traditionally lie down along the route of the bull run the Saturday before the fiesta, covered in fake blood and bearing placards in different languages asking for the “Abolition of bullfighting,” or saying “Bulls have a bloody death in Pamplona.”