Running of the Bulls and Pamplona Bull Running Essay

Submitted By taylak
Words: 562
Pages: 3

My friends and I went to Spain just for the San Fermín festival. The San Fermín festival, also known as the Pamplona Bull Running. The festival lasts one week in early July. The history of the festival is not a hundred percent clear but there is evidence of the festival as far back as the 13th century. The festival was named after San Fermin who was a man that was trying to spread Christianity but was tortured and decapitated for it. Each day of the week long festival begins at 8am when the runners line up at the corral in Calle Santo Domingo. The runners await anxiously for the first rocket sound that tells them that the gate to the bull’s pen is being opened. After that, there is a second rocket that goes off when all of the bulls have left and then the race is on. The run is about half of a mile long and one of the most dangerous things beside a 1000 pound bull coming at you is the vast number of people. People will gather in bars, in balconies, or anywhere safe to watch the runners. There is no limit to how many people can participate in the bull run so there is always hundreds of people that compete in the bull run so there is no room to manuver. Also, the majority of the people are drunk which just makes them be in the way of everyone else. Another dangerous thing about the bull run is that the streets are walled so the bulls can not escape which means there is no where to go when the bull gets to close. All of the runners where white pants, white shirts, and a red handkerchief around the neck. Of course, when the bulls run down the street everyone is pushing and shoving and people are falling down in front of you which makes it harder to run and put you at a greater risk to be trampled by the bulls.. Amazingly though only fifteen people have died and only about three people get injured a