One man gored and others bruised in Spain's bull running festival

Independent

08-07-2025

A man was gored and seven others injured on the second morning of Pamplona 's San Fermin festival, in which thousands of people line the mediaeval city's narrow streets for the centuries-old tradition of running with bulls.
The man who was gored, identified only as being older than 25, was injured by a bull horn under his right armpit on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the northern Spanish city's emergency services said.
"At this time, he is under observation but is in stable condition," she told reporters.
The seven others suffered bruises and contusions, some in the shoulder or head.
In the festival's "encierros", or bull runs, fighting bulls are set loose along the twisting cobblestone streets and race to reach the bullfight arena. Hundreds of aficionados, many wearing traditional white clothes with a red sash and neckerchief, run with them.
Up to 4,000 runners take part in each bull run, which takes place over 846 meters (2,775 feet) and can last three to four minutes.
Thousands of spectators watch from balconies and wooden barricades along the course. While millions more follow the visceral spectacle on live television.
On Tuesday morning, one of the bulls stopped in the middle of his run and charged the runners for several tense minutes.
The festival, which gained international fame from Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises", lasts for one week in early July.
Participants are occasionally gored at the hundreds of such bull-running fiestas in Spain every year. Other injuries are common. At least 16 runners have lost their lives at the Pamplona festival over the past century.
The deadliest day on record was July 13, 1980, when four runners were killed by two bulls. The last death was in 2009.
The rest of each day is for eating, drinking, dancing and cultural entertainment, including bull fights where the animals that run in the morning are slain in the bull ring by professional matadors each afternoon.