San Fermin has come to an end here in Pamplona, Spain. One of the largest parties in the world, a point of tourism for people all over the world, a focus of Spanish tradition, and overall an incredible week and a half is over. I hope at the very least I’ve been able to show my experience of San Fermin, and that maybe San Fermin seems like an event worth experiencing at least once in a lifetime. Only 365 days until San Fermin 2010! Nos vemos pronto!

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The encierrillo, or the moving of the bulls each night from the corral in Rochapea to the pen on Calle Santo Domingo, is a silent and respectful event during San Fermin. It starts at 10 p.m., and only 200 tickets are distributed, mainly to natives of Pamplona. The following morning was the sixth and second-to-last encierro, a relatively clean run with few injuries.

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Another photographer working during the San Fermin festival, sitting along the Telefonica outside the door of the bull ring, was present for the attack by “Ermitaño” this morning during the sixth encierro. AD Dacanay, a student in Pamplona from the Phillipines shares his pictures with bullrunning.com

“I was just blown away when I saw it, I really have nothing to say about it.” – AD Dacanay

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Despite the tradegy of yesterday’s encierro, San Fermin has continued here in full swing. Not in any disrespect to the deceased – moments of silence are being held before every official event and the bullfight yesterday began with the bull ‘Cappuccino’ during which the arena was silent. However, because the weekend has arrived, so have many more people. With that in mind, this morning’s encierro may have had even more people than each one the entire week beforehand, and I’d guess that there are still more people coming. Today’s encierro was clean, though a bull did get separated from the pack and, while behind, did charge one participant, but no major injuries were sustained.

The feeling of the encierro has changed for me though. This morning was different – I was ready, I set my camera, and then the rocket went off and I was terrified. This is the second day I’ve been able to watch from a balcony – yesterday was from Estafeta 23, and today Mercaderes 8 (look them up at bullbalcony.com) – and both days the view was incredible, but today I was afraid of being able to see so well. Luckily, nothing went terribly wrong. I’m sure I’ll settle, as will the rest of the people here, soon enough. Viva, San Fermin.

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Today, Friday July 10, 2009 was the first death in Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls since 1995. A loose bull, ‘Cappuccino’, became disoriented after being separated from the herd and charged the walls along the encierro on the final stretch – the Telefonica – multiple times, during which the animal struck 27-year-old Daniel Jimeno Romero from Madrid who was gored by the bull’s horn. Throughout the rest of San Fermin, as a sign of respect for Romero there will be a minute of silence before the bullfights this evening as well as before all official events.

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Yesterday evening I attended my very first corrida de toros, or bull fight. A bullfight consists of three bull fighters taking turns as they face a total of six bulls. Thanks to the kind explanations of a Spanish man sitting with me, I now understand that a bull fight is a lot more complex than I previously thought. To start, there are six bulls intended to fight, and two extras. Just before a bull is first released, it will have a divisa, or a small dagger with ribbons bearing the ranch from which it comes’ colors, stabbed between it’s shoulders.

When the bull enters the arena, there is a brief period during which assistant bull fighters will wave capetas, or larger more flimsy capes, to test that the bull is in good condition to fight. If the bull is not in good condition, it can only be exchanged for one of the two extra bulls before any more damage is done to it. Once they know the bull is in good condition, two picadores mounted on horseback are announced by a trumpet fanfare and enter the ring. Each man will stab the bull once with a lance.

The next phase of the bullfight is with three banderilleros, who challenge the bull holding banderillos, or long metal hooks decorated with colored ribbon that are stuck into the bulls shoulders to weaken it’s neck muscles. Each banderillero will place two hooks into the bulls shoulders, totaling six. At this point the actual bull fighter will enter the arena and begin the fight. After a demonstration of bravery and skill, as well as strength and speed on behalf of the bull, the bull fighter will be handed a long sword which he will stab between the shoulders of the bull and down through the heart. The show is meant to demonstrate the strength and dignity of the bull, and as such if the bull fighter has to try more than once to deliver the final blow, the fight is considered poorly executed.

The corrida I attended consisted of the bulls from the ranch “El Ventorrillo” from Yébanes, Toledo.

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At Pamplona’s running of the bulls, thousands of people flood the old part of town to run with or to watch the bulls in action. With that in mind, many people camp out for hours starting sometimes as early as 4 in the morning along the walls of the encierro in order to get a good view. The longer San Fermin goes, the more outrageous efforts become to see bulls run, with people on rooftops, scaling walls, and even entering the encierro as if they would run to in the end simply stand along the side and watch.

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8 a.m. this morning was the second encierro of this year’s San Fermin, with reports (in Spanish) of a two minute, forty second run. Today was also the first wounded during the running this week, with one man hurt by a horn in the rear. With most of the crowd having gathered hours before the encierro, the second day remained just as thrilling as the first.

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Today began the actual running of the bulls – the encierros. After camping out at a spot just above where the bulls are released for an hour and a half, the first rocket went off at 8 a.m. sharp to signal the near three thousand runners that the bulls were released, and after a brief fifteen seconds of them passing by where I stood, the second rocket went off to signal that all the bulls were out of the corral. Reports say only four runners were minorly injured, and so begins the running of the bulls!

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Today at twelve p.m. sharp one of the world’s largest and most famous festivals began here in Pamplona – Las Fiestas de San Fermin. With the rocket that the mayoress launched from the balcony of town hall, above a crowd full of wine and champagne covered people that resembled a sea more than anything else, Pamplona commenced its celebration. The plaza in front of town hall remained jubilant for an hour or so, and then the party spread to the surrounding streets, where residents dumped buckets of water and wine from balconies onto the people below, and bars filled with foreigners and natives alike at one in the afternoon.

Festivities will continue with fireworks tonight (and every night) at 11 p.m. in the Ciudadela, and the city will party until after the encierro each morning, which begins at 8 a.m. and ends by 8:05 a.m. Let the nocturnal sleep schedule begin!

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