Zürcher Nachrichten - Foreigners flock back to Spain bull-running fiesta

EUR -
AED 4.02547
AFN 78.958383
ALL 99.102869
AMD 431.181955
ANG 1.961978
AOA 1003.890567
ARS 1184.765046
AUD 1.813586
AWG 1.97271
AZN 1.867466
BAM 1.955265
BBD 2.22659
BDT 133.983319
BGN 1.957778
BHD 0.412787
BIF 3277.602688
BMD 1.09595
BND 1.474296
BOB 7.619914
BRL 6.405394
BSD 1.102698
BTN 94.079244
BWP 15.358795
BYN 3.608812
BYR 21480.619234
BZD 2.215094
CAD 1.559263
CDF 3148.664634
CHF 0.944431
CLF 0.02729
CLP 1047.223301
CNY 7.980215
CNH 7.994999
COP 4582.945323
CRC 557.847278
CUC 1.09595
CUP 29.042674
CVE 110.234821
CZK 25.256829
DJF 196.376238
DKK 7.461451
DOP 69.640934
DZD 146.03502
EGP 55.406831
ERN 16.439249
ETB 145.347308
FJD 2.537019
FKP 0.847795
GBP 0.850992
GEL 3.01429
GGP 0.847795
GHS 16.970527
GIP 0.847795
GMD 78.997119
GNF 9480.074229
GTQ 8.45127
GYD 228.536272
HKD 8.520633
HNL 28.038338
HRK 7.531044
HTG 143.530764
HUF 404.54591
IDR 18346.949665
ILS 4.100568
IMP 0.847795
INR 93.650132
IQD 1430.891791
IRR 46360.405806
ISK 144.204462
JEP 0.847795
JMD 172.42419
JOD 0.777072
JPY 161.061946
KES 141.527433
KGS 95.002298
KHR 4365.330633
KMF 489.529208
KPW 986.361205
KRW 1599.015607
KWD 0.337157
KYD 0.910826
KZT 556.162432
LAK 23685.841231
LBP 98372.711411
LKR 324.07413
LRD 218.985421
LSL 20.902803
LTL 3.236056
LVL 0.66293
LYD 5.289988
MAD 10.429326
MDL 19.551233
MGA 5069.578931
MKD 61.05679
MMK 2300.919896
MNT 3846.361639
MOP 8.775473
MRU 43.593447
MUR 49.000806
MVR 16.923331
MWK 1897.317993
MXN 22.386696
MYR 4.861215
MZN 70.003894
NAD 20.902803
NGN 1681.066767
NIO 40.290501
NOK 11.790932
NPR 149.910449
NZD 1.95777
OMR 0.421946
PAB 1.09595
PEN 4.037053
PGK 4.46999
PHP 62.764717
PKR 306.904853
PLN 4.245513
PYG 8757.469729
QAR 3.989667
RON 4.952931
RSD 116.586887
RUB 93.840941
RWF 1555.449869
SAR 4.110221
SBD 9.312612
SCR 15.97682
SDG 658.021292
SEK 10.947921
SGD 1.470849
SHP 0.861245
SLE 24.933268
SLL 22981.523891
SOS 624.324825
SRD 40.248477
STD 22683.951476
SVC 9.589967
SYP 14249.994157
SZL 20.902803
THB 37.792726
TJS 11.899889
TMT 3.833642
TND 3.357047
TOP 2.638671
TRY 41.641737
TTD 7.422798
TWD 36.332658
TZS 2923.758392
UAH 45.158896
UGX 4009.400205
USD 1.09595
UYU 46.167964
UZS 14171.813622
VES 77.086835
VND 28252.54745
VUV 134.896075
WST 3.078778
XAF 652.705611
XAG 0.037037
XAU 0.000361
XCD 2.966325
XDR 0.817067
XOF 652.705611
XPF 119.331742
YER 269.409315
ZAR 20.929909
ZMK 9864.868719
ZMW 30.636217
ZWL 352.89544
  • RBGPF

    69.0200

    69.02

    +100%

  • SCS

    -0.0600

    10.68

    -0.56%

  • BCC

    0.8100

    95.44

    +0.85%

  • GSK

    -2.4800

    36.53

    -6.79%

  • NGG

    -3.4600

    65.93

    -5.25%

  • RELX

    -3.2800

    48.16

    -6.81%

  • BTI

    -2.0600

    39.86

    -5.17%

  • CMSC

    0.0300

    22.29

    +0.13%

  • CMSD

    0.1600

    22.83

    +0.7%

  • RIO

    -3.7600

    54.67

    -6.88%

  • RYCEF

    -1.5500

    8.25

    -18.79%

  • JRI

    -0.8600

    11.96

    -7.19%

  • BCE

    0.0500

    22.71

    +0.22%

  • VOD

    -0.8700

    8.5

    -10.24%

  • AZN

    -5.4600

    68.46

    -7.98%

  • BP

    -2.9600

    28.38

    -10.43%

Foreigners flock back to Spain bull-running fiesta
Foreigners flock back to Spain bull-running fiesta / Photo: Jose Jordan - AFP

Foreigners flock back to Spain bull-running fiesta

As soon as Peter Millington heard that Spain's San Fermin fiesta would be held again this year after a two-year absence due to the pandemic, he started making travel arrangements.

Text size:

The 38-year-old British financial advisor has been a regular at Spain's most famous bull-running festival since he first attended the annual event in Pamplona as a university student, and was keen to return.

Millington said he booked his flight from London and made hotel reservations in February, just days after Pamplona's mayor announced that San Fermin would likely go ahead this year.

"There is nothing else like it, it's totally unique," he told AFP in the northern Spanish city on Wednesday when the nine-day fiesta officially opened.

"I had to be here," he added, gesturing towards the sea of revellers merrily drinking around him, most dressed in the traditional all-white outfit and red scarf.

The festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises", has long drawn large numbers of foreigners, including many like Millington who return year after year.

And with global travel on the rebound since most coronavirus pandemic restrictions have been lifted, the foreign visitors were back in force in Pamplona this year.

Among the regulars who returned this year was Hemingway's writer grandson John Hemingway, who came from Montreal where he currently lives.

"It is good to be here," said the 61-year-old, who was attending San Fermin for the 10th time.

"This is a breath of fresh air after all this craziness of lockdowns and social distancing."

- 'Hell of an experience' -

The festival, which dates back to medieval times, features concerts, religious processions, nightly fireworks, and round-the-clock drinking.

But it is best known for the bracing daily test of courage against a thundering pack of half-tonne, sharp-horned bulls.

Every day at 8:00 am, hundreds of daredevils race six fighting bulls along an 850-metre (2,800-foot) course from a holding pen to Pamplona's bull ring.

The bulls then face matadors and almost certain death in bullfights in the afternoon.

About 40 percent of all runners come from abroad, with Australia, the United States and Britain accounting for the greatest number of foreigners, according to the Pamplona city hall.

The vast majority of participants are men, with barely a female face visible among the runners -- although there were plenty in the cheering crowds.

During the last run in 2019, Pamplona town hall said just six percent of runners were women. This year's figure will only be available at the end of the festival.

Roger Sandhu, a 30-year-old businessman from the United States, had just taken part in the first bull run on Thursday.

"As soon as we turned the corner, the bulls were right there," he said.

"It was one hell of an experience."

- 'Christmas for adults' -

But for Jack Denault, a 50-year-old Canadian who now lives in France, the festival's biggest draw is the "camaraderie" that exists among festival goers.

"The bond you make with the people you celebrate with lasts forever," said Denault, who rents the same apartment every time he comes for the fiesta.

"There are so many of us that come back year after year, and it is such a great reunion."

Denault said he had participated in over 80 bull runs in San Fermin, but he said they were only a "small part" of the festival.

He has come to every San Fermin festival since 2008 and has a tattoo of a bull's hoof on his arm for each year he has attended.

"I will keep coming as long as my body allows it," said the retired hotel sector worker.

The festival was last held in 2019. It was called off in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.

Timothy Pinks, a 60-year-old London driver who has attended San Fermin regularly since the 1980s, said he was thrilled the event was back on this year.

"It is paradise on earth. Nine days of Christmas for us adults," he said as he had drinks with a large group of friends in a central Pamplona square.

H.Roth--NZN