Pamplona, day 2

7/8


We got to bed around 2am or so and were back at it around 5am. Many people had not gone to sleep at all and where still out from the night before (including one of Cheny’s friends Miguel). We found a nice spot near the bull ring and waited for the walls to be put up.



The tradition is that bulls run through the streets to get the bull ring for bull fights later in the day. I think it’s about a kilometer of the city. For those in the race, I’m sure it seems like 50 kilometers. Two sets of walls are setup around 6:30am keeping the bulls in one corridor, the medical staff and police in the next and the spectators in the outside. The people who are going to run must be in the bull race corridor by 7:30am. We were able to snag a spot on the outer wall and waited for the bull run, which begins at 8am. This run consists of about 15 bulls. 12 bulls run first, 6 castrated, tame bulls (which means they are less violent and not used for the bull fight) and 6 wild, fierce bulls. After these bulls run through, the release 3 more castrated bulls to catch any stragglers of the wild bulls.





People running means bulls coming





Once the run was over we headed into the bull ring to watch the “toritos”, or smaller bulls, as the Spaniards call them. The bulls in my opinion were by no means small, for while in comparison to the ones that did the run they were, but not when considering you are in an enclosed area with a wild animal. They had had their horns filed off or something placed on them so that they were not jagged/sharp any longer. Many of the people who had participated in the run were now in the ring with these smaller bulls. Let’s just say that some won this encounter while other did not.

A few special moments in the bull ring: many people would lay on the ground in front of where the bull came into the ring and let the bull jump over them… insanity. Others (those drunk, most likely) would grab the horns of the bulls once it was tired and end up on their backs by a sucker punch from behind as many of the Spaniards did not like this (it was against the rules to touch the bulls and considered disrespectful). The bulls were able to change directions quickly and sprint to the other side rapidly, one man was unprepared for this and got flipped upside down completely unaware. Other jumped over the bull as they were running at them; still others would simply duck behind the masses standing in the ring.







After this was over we walked the whole path of the run and took a look at the kennels the bulls were housed in before the race. We then headed home to catch up on our sleep.





The bulls that run each day are used in the bull fights later each day. Each day, other than opening ceremonies, the bull run, play time with the smaller bulls, and bull fights occur. Overall, an interesting local custom to behold and yet another crazy story to tell.

We slept most of the day away and then headed back into town to buy our bus tickets and take a better look at the city. We stayed in this night and got some proper sleep as we planned to watch the 3 minute race again the next day.

Look at this haircut!