Pamplona - Running of the Bulls

Running with the Bulls 12/07/13

On the 11th of July we caught the 9:30pm bus from San Sebastián to Pamplona for the Running of The Bulls festival.

We arrived at 10:30pm and the Alas bus dropped us off right in front of the firework display. There were thousands of people all wearing white with red neck and waist ties, sitting sipping on sangria, waiting for the display to start.

At ten to eleven the loudest firework I'd ever heard went off as warning that the display was about to begin. We quickly grabbed some drinks and found a spot to sit and watch.

11/07/13 Fire Work Display, Pamplona

They were the best fireworks I'd ever seen. Some exploded in the shape of love hearts and smiley faces, others exploded with glitter rain. The display went for roughy 20 minutes.

Afterwards we followed the crowd, weaving through cobbled streets. Eventually we caught up to the marching band which lead us to the main square where a dj was playing. We danced away until 2am and then wondered off to find a bar. We managed to find a street full of them and hopped between them trying various sangria and Spanish beer.

By 4am we were done and ready for sleep but we still had another 4 hours until the race started with nowhere to stay. We continued wondering the streets and found the starting line for the race where the bulls were penned up relaxing before there big day.

At 6am we went to the stadium and waited out the front until the doors opened at 7. We managed to get a seat at the very front next to the entrance where the contestants enter the arena.

At 8am the race began which played on the large screen. Several men were hot by the bulls. One in particular was knocked to the grown and Tossed around by the bull for 2 minutes, eventually a man grabbed to bull by the tail while others helped the man up but the bull resisted and kept going for him, ripping his pants down and pushing him around. He was freed eventually and the bull continued stomping down the path and was the last to enter the arena.

Once the last bull was through they released 1 of 6 smaller bulls entered the arena for 5 minutes each. Hundreds of people remained in the arena, some trying to get its attention by tapping its bottom, others were petrified and jumped out.

Once the 6th bull was rounded back out of the arena the show was over. At 8:30am we wondered back to the bus terminal where we waited for our 11am bus to return back to San Sebastián.

Pamplona was defiantly the best par of our trip so far. The energy for the whole
Night was electrifying and although the race was quite cruel it was very interesting to witness the Spanish culture.

We now have 3 nights to recover in San Sebastián before heading to Barcelona. Xxx