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Spain's Bull Running Begins With Few Injuries
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Published: July 8, 2007
PAMPLONA, Spain - Six massive bulls charged down the packed streets of Pamplona on Saturday during the first run of the San Fermin Festival, which combines the half-ton animals with damp cobblestones and revelers steeped in adrenaline and alcohol.
Injuries are usually common as the crowds strive to keep ahead of the bulls in the narrow streets. Only seven people were treated for minor injuries this year, including an Australian man who was slightly gored and a Spaniard who escaped with a minor shoulder injury after being tossed in the air and falling into the path of another bull, whose horns missed.
The number of revelers swelled this year because the traditional start day fell on a weekend. Last year, more than 200,000 tourists visited Pamplona, according to the city government. Numbers this year are likely to exceed that, government spokeswoman Edurne Elio said.
The bulls, which are kept in an enclosure just outside the town center, are run daily during the San Fermin Festival to Pamplona's central bullring. Crowds started to line the 974-yard course as early as 2 a.m.
Each of the nine days of San Fermin features bulls from a different breeder. The lightest this year weighed 1,212 pounds, and the heaviest 1,356 pounds.
Since records began in 1924, 13 people have been killed. The last fatality, a 22-year-old American, was gored to death in 1995.
The San Fermin Festival dates to the late 16th century but gained worldwide fame in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel 'The Sun Also Rises.'
Today, the crowd will run with Spain's most dangerous breed of bulls, the Miuras.
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