July 13th, 2002

San Fermin 2002, Pamplona, Spain

Running of The Bulls in Pamplona!
San Fermin 2002 takes its toll on the Sangria ridden city

No I didn't run. I didn't even think it was possible to be in Pamplona today. I am just happy to have made it at this point after with my own little stressful 'running with the bull'shit information regarding transportation from Barcelona. My travelmate Alex and I couldn't get a train and couldn't rent a car after being guinea pigged around car rental places. Great customer service Spain has let me tell you. The customer is always wrong and Julia Car Rental in Barcelona lied straight into our faces that they didn't have any cars available when we saw some in their lot. The salesman probably just wanted to go home instead of helping us out.

Forget using Spain's Renfe Trains system. It's absolutely a waist of time unless you have a Eurail pass or unless you know a week in advance what your plans are. You might aswell start preparing for the buses.

I had almost given up from frustration, anger, and exhaustion until I picked up the mobile and phoned Miguel a resident of Barcelona. He motivated me to try once more and get my ass to the Bus Station for the bus. Im glad I called, turned myself around, and tried one more time because we were able to book tickets and left BCN in two hours.

Once we were on the bus we had a little idea what we were getting into but were still naive to whole thing. It was a last minute decision and people seemed prepared wearing the red and white clothing. Guys from Florida on our left throwing down a bottle each of Malibu Rum getting inconsiderably louder into the night as others prepped in sleep for what would be a hectic day.

We arrived into Pamplona at 6am, too late to register as if it even was a thought. It was freezing. We headed straight to a cafeteria bar and started replenishing the last hours of food deprivation with a lively morning crowd ready to take on the festivities. While I was eating another bocadillo and a cafe con leche the people were throwing down Sangria. With less than an hour for the bulls to romp through the streets of Pamplona, Alex and I submitted ourselves to overpriced festive red attire and took our position near the Plaza de Toros.

Where the bulls make their last romp into the Plaza de Toros, is where we stood. We jousted our way against a herd of feisty, rambunctious, some French speaking, and other pushy people who just wanted to share a peak of nothing. Thank god my brain kicked in right when the gun shots fired. I stood on my bag and saw a bit of the bulls running, but definitely witnessed the adrenaline rushed faces of the runners and a frightening scream of terror from the crowd.

After the morning running of the bulls the streets of Pamplona were absolutely crazy with drunken mobs of messy Spanish dancing in the streets singing traditional folk rhymes and celebrating life. It reminded me of Mardi Gras 2000 but this was more of a definitive cultural celebration. It was a worthwhile experience watching people jumping up and down spilling sangria over the streets.

Unfortunately my travelmate Alex wasn't so up to this entire fiesta atmosphere or the cultural aspect of the festival. I tried showing him to the more peaceful side of San Fermin where the much older crowd was. I thought he would enjoy listening to the local Basque music of Spain, but instead said the entire event was really "boring" and closed his mind. We split up mid day because I wanted to feel the event and he rather take the city bus to the Internet cafe located 45 minutes walking distance. This was a time that could have been better enjoyed alone.

During my time in Pamplona I wandered for a bit soaking in the most I could of what the festival was all about, and of coarse making the most of it. I continued to test the market price for the tickets for the Encierro (bullfight) with the scalpers. It was exciting trying to scalp in my broken Spanish. The price was still at €30 a ticket in Sol but we wanted a ticket in Sombra which was starting at €100. I decided to some back later.. as always.

When I met up with Alex later we returned to Plaza de Toros before the Encierro. When once again testing the prices we just came short of scoring €30 Sombra tickets to this couple. It wasn't long before we found another pair of Sombra tickets for the same price as the scalpers were becoming desperate to chance making money.

Inside the Plaza de Toros there is a section called Sol that faces the blinding sun and a section called Sombra where the bullfight is staged towards. Sol is the party section with rowdy people and Sombra sips on wine amongst the more expensive older ticket holders. We were in Sombra and realized soon that this was the place to be because most of the bullfight was staged for our section and not for Spiderman's surprise appearance in Sol. The other side looked loads of fun and next time I'll have to be over there.

When we sat down in Sombra the couple we had lost the first deal of tickets to, were sitting directly on our left. It was a coincidence and I tried my best to converse in Spanish. As we were chatting over the beaches of Ibiza and other simple talk, I soon discovered that this couple was from San Sebastian. They later offered us a ride to San Sebastian and helped us find a hotel. They offered very welcoming hospitality known to the openness of the Basque and Navarro regions. It was such a different world being offered a ride from a complete stranger and making general comparisons to the coldness of some parts of England and the United States.

The bullfight was definitely the highlight of our journey to Pamplona. We both have never seen a bullfight before so it was a first. Its really an interesting display of strength, skill, and bravery between a man a beast. I recommend it for all animal rights activists. I think most people would be disgusted from the bloody live torturous slaughtering leading to a death of a toro, but I enjoyed the entire thing with an open mind. You have to see a good bullfight and witness the spectacles of energetic liveliness locked within this event, especially the passion Spaniards have for the whole shebang.

To describe in a short detail the rules of a corrida (bullfight); the toro (bull) enters the ring when seeing a open light inside the dark corral it has been locked in and teased. Once entering the ring its furious and continues to be distracted by banderillos also called 'peons' who flash pink and yellow capes angering it. The matador/torrero then has a little dance with bull, making it more furious and hopefully creating a toro bravo (fighting bull). The torrero leaves, and the banderillos (lower matadors) tease and position the bull for the piccadores (horsemen) who enter the ring and anger it by stabbing its back area. The toro should be now really angered especially when the banderillos charge it and successfully stab its back with pointed-tip rods called banderillas. After about six of these are placed into the bull, the Matador returns for the final dance leading to a crowd silenced kill by stabbing an espada (sword) into the estocada (neck). The toro suddenly dies on the spot and the horses drag it off to the butcher.

The entire spectacle is quite interesting and hard to explain, but after seeing a corrida with 6 fights you really get to understand the entire event.

The last corrida was by far the best and the crowd showed its praise by applauding the matador Miguel Abellan. The crowd, mostlyfrom the Sol section, spilled out onto the arena and flooded the streets of Pamplona..... another party night in San Fermin just like the past 7 days of this festival... absolutely incredible.

From Pamplona we headed to San Sebastian later than night. The entire trip was worth the effort for myself and I was glad to have witnessed this cultural event. In a couple years I'll have to come back to Pamplona to run and be part of the festival....

Scroll down the page to view pictures of San Fermin 2002 in Pamplona.