Running Of The Bulls – Dale’s Daily Data

There are versions of it throughout the world – in Spain, Portugal, France, Mexico, even in the United States in Mesquite, Nevada.  But by far the most famous is in Pamplona, Spain during what’s called the Festival of San Fermin – a week-long event from July 6th thru the 14th that’s marked by the daily running of the bulls.

About a million people attend the festival each year which includes evening bullfights but each morning the bulls to be used in that night’s bullfights are sent from the stockyards thru the narrow streets of the city to the bullring.  It’s a stretch of a little over half a mile with the building walls and fences keeping the bulls on the right path. 

It’s a tradition that dates back to the 14^th century when cattlemen would hurry their animals thru the streets to sell them at markets by scaring and whipping them.  To show how brave they were young men would run ahead of the bulls trying to stay in front of them until the bulls reached their pens. 

Today, two national TV networks in Spain cover the running of the bulls.  You don’t have to sign up or sign any papers.  Just show up, you must be 18, you can’t tease the bulls, you have to run in the same direction as the bulls and not be under the influence of alcohol.  For safety, there are double barricades along the route just narrow enough for a person to fit thru, but not a bull.  Each year 200 to 300 people are injured…mostly scrapes and bruises from falls.  But since 1910, 15 people have been killed in Pamplona.

Ernest Hemingway brought the event to the world’s attention in his book “The Sun Also Rises”.

Check out the video - this is nuts: