Running of the bulls?

Question

I'm doing a report on Running of the Bulls in spain. And the websites keep talking about San Fermin. What is San Fermin? Is it a city? Is it a saint? Is it another name for the festival?

Someone help?

Answer 1

Hi, in Spain the bulls are runned in many places and different forms. San Fermin is the patron Saint of Pamplona, capital of Navarra, where they run the bulls during the fiestas (from the 7th of July till the 14th of July) of their patron San Fermin. Its the most famous maybe because Hemingway and several other Anglo-saxon writers visited, liked it, and wrote about it. And also because is one of the biggest and richest in ritual and folclore related to the Encierro.

The act of running the bulls is called "ENCIERRO" or the locking of the bulls. El Encierro, or Un Encierro, is the running of the bulls in general.

This tradition originated from an old need, during the old times when they would move the bulls from one place to other like they moved all animals, no trucks,across the country side just shepherds, (usually called Mayorales and they rode on horses and drived the bulls with long flat-pointed sticks) and bulls. The last kilometers before the city or village they where destined tothe bullfight, the younger lads and men, who beibng fiestas were quite drunk, would go out to wait for the bulls arriving as a herd and tease them so they run after them and into the "corral" faster.

Later they enjoyed it so much that when they started moving the herd by truck the encierros stopped and people demanded they become a ritual part of many of their fiestas.

Many places they run everyday the bulls that will be bull-fought in the afternoon, during every day of the feasts, through fields and street to the corral. This are the most tipical as so in this way they do it also during San Fermin fiestas.

Other places just release a bull in the street, some with a cord some without, and they run the bull some hours, there are even 'places where they wall the village with wood fences and released the bulls to the streets for a whole week and there is no other bullfighting event.

There are also Embolados de Fuego which is a bull with flaming balls on the horns that is released also into the ring or streets, etc.

Double clicking below will take you to a site (in spanish)dedicated to many differnt types of encierros:

http://www.losencierros.net/

Double clicking below will take you to a site (in english)were they wilkipedia gives general explanations about encierros:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encierro

Double clicking below the next three links wwill take you to  sites (first in spanish next in english) were they will provide infor about SanFernin encierros and tgis years encierrosprograms, activities, videos etc :

http://www.sanferminonline.net/finales/h...

http://www.bullrunning.net

http://www.bullrunning.net/therunningoft...

Hope it Helps

S

Answer 2

Pamplona is known for the tradition of the running of the bulls which occurs between 6th and 14th of July every year. See http://www.spain4uk.co.uk/places/pamplon... for more details