Today Pamplona’s main newspaper, the Diario de Navarra, mentioned that the rest of the bulls are arriving today from all over Spain.  As I read the names and weights of the bulls, it made this whole bull running idea much more tangible.  One of the bulls from Jandilla is named “Amante” (nº 54, negro mulato) and weighs in at a healthy 595 kilos (for the non-metrically inclined, that’s 1,312 pounds of rippling muscle).  Well, “Amante,” I have news for you: you may think this run is all fun and games, but you don’t know what I’m made of.  I have been training.  I may be 1,150 pounds lighter than you.  And it’s true that I don’t have sharpened, cylindrical weapons growing from my skull.  But I’ve got a brain and this blog – and from this public forum I am informing all your white and red running targets that you exist.  I am telling them your name, your size and your number.  So, be warned “Amante,” we are ready for you.

As I’m imagining the magnificent bulls now in Pamplona, from the most celebrated ranches (ganaderías) in Spain, I am beginning to understand that this event is more than an extreme sport for adventurous travelers.  No, the Festival of San Fermin (and the Feria del Toro which is a part of it) celebrates a real cultural heritage.  The bull has been an important and revered part of Spanish culture since, well, since the ancient cave paintings in Altamira and the megalithic stone sculptures (verracos).

In comparison to all that bull history, the encierro of San Fermin has a relatively brief history.   As the little city of Pamplona prepares for nearly a million visitors, I am preparing to see this place in a new way.  Amidst all the mayhem and debauchery, I hope to get a sense of the cultural importance of this festival – and to share a sense of the reverence that many Spaniards hold for these bulls.

For more info on the bulls and a recap of each day’s running of the bulls, see the blog “Foreign Perspectives,” managed by two Americans with a few years of San Fermin experience.