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Associated Press
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Top photos of thrilling moments and close calls at Spain's San Fermín bull-running festival
PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) — Tens of thousands of revelers celebrated Pamplona's annual San Fermín bull-running festival in northern Spain. The highlight of the nine-day festival is the early morning bull runs, when thousands of runners sprint to avoid six bulls charging along a winding cobblestoned route to the city's bullring. A tiny minority of those who run with bulls are women, and while goring is not rare, more get injured in falls and pileups. Medics rush in to treat the injured and take the seriously hurt to a hospital. This is a photo gallery featuring some of the best photos from the week's event, curated by Associated Press photographer Bernat Armangue, based in Spain.
Times
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Times
Women fear men more than bulls 50 years after joining Pamplona
It was a July morning in 1975 when a thunder of hooves echoed through Pamplona's old town. Tonnes of muscle and horn came charging around the 90-degree bend towards Estafeta Street, a long and narrow stretch offering nowhere to hide, save for a few doorways. Mariví Mendiburu waited nervously. The 21-year-old had ducked under barricades and stepped on to the cobbled streets of the city's annual bull run route. As people's jogs turned to sprints, one man in the sea of red neckerchiefed runners pointed and protested: 'Hey! A woman!' The ban on women participating in the encierro — the running of the bulls — had been lifted in 1974, but any who tried that year were pushed back behind the barriers. • The opening of San Fermin Festival in Pamplona — and other news in pictures A year later, the dictator Francisco Franco had months to live and one did not need to have an ear to the ground to hear the rumble of change in Spain. 'It was an era of demonstrations, of strikes, of fight,' Mendiburu said. 'There was an atmosphere that things weren't going to be the same.' Unlike her brother, who did bull runs out of an insatiable passion — he did not stop despite having been gored in the chest four times — the young feminist's motivation was purely political. 'The encierro was full of machismo. It was simply to make a statement. To say, 'Oi. We can run too.' ' When Mendiburu and her friend Alicia Rivas ran that year, they waited for the bulls, shielded by a ring of men so that they could not be pulled out of the street. 'If we had gone alone, we definitely wouldn't have managed it,' she said. Fifty years after their pioneering run, spotting a woman in the encierro is still like finding a needle in a haystack. Female runners account for only 6 per cent of the roughly 3,000 that brave the frantic dash on each of the eight mornings of the San Fermín festival, but for them, the front line in the fight for change has shifted from the bull run to the other side of the barricades. During the 2016 celebrations an 18-year-old woman was found on a bench having been gang-raped by five men who called themselves the 'Wolf Pack'. It became a watershed moment for Spanish legislation and placed the festival at the heart of the national debate about sexual violence. It was not, however, the only case of gender-based violence to mar the image of the festival and the thronging crowds and parties that engulf it. In 2008 Nagore Laffage, 20, refused to have sex with a man during the fiesta. He beat her to death. The cases are not isolated, Teresa Sáez Barrao, an activist and ex-parliamentarian, said. 'We had been talking about this problem for years but the institutions would say that it didn't happen during Sanfermines [San Fermín festival].' Now widely acknowledged, many locals lament Pamplona's reputation. 'It's a shame because San Fermín is so much more than that,' said Sara Puñal, who grew up watching the encierro from her grandparents' balcony on Estafeta Street and debuted last year. 'But the people are scarier than the bulls.' Scores of safety initiatives have been implemented in Pamplona: there is an app for reporting attacks; the council has funded improved lighting and surveillance in the city centre; women's groups hold self-defence workshops; partygoers getting night buses can demand a stop anywhere to shorten their walk home; and, as of 2024, bars are plastered with guides on the official protocols to follow in the event of an assault. Information points around town campaign for a 'Pamplona free of sexist assaults'. 'It's true that security has noticeably increased,' Saioa Sagasti, another local runner, said. 'There are more police and that makes you feel safer.' It is questionable, however, whether much has changed. A report by the municipal police after last year's fiesta said that arrests were made for 24 sexual assaults, six of which were classed as 'high intensity': the same category as the Wolf Pack case. Pamplona, capital of Navarre, swells fivefold during the San Fermín festival. 'There's a general idea that from the 6th to the 14th of July in Pamplona there aren't any rules and anything goes,' Sagasti said, echoing the Gen-Z runner Fushan Equiza González's claim that visitors treat it like a 'lawless city'. In The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway gave a vivid account of the festivities: 'The dancing kept up, the drinking kept up … Everything became quite unreal and finally it seemed as though nothing could have any consequences.' Almost a century on, Sagasti said, 'You're more alert and take more care than you would on a normal night.' The encierro evolved over centuries from the practical task of herding bulls towards the bullring into a magnet for thrill-seekers. The three minutes it takes for the six bulls to cover 875 metres are watched live by millions of viewers across Spain, complete with commentary and slow-motion replays. Sixteen men have died since records on the practice began. 'You go into survival mode,' Equiza González said. 'I'm quite small, so for the men, tripping over me is like tripping over a Coca-Cola can.' She doesn't let that quash her enthusiasm. 'You feel like you're part of the history and identity of where you come from — living the city's tradition from the inside. It's very important to people.' For the small percentage of women that participate, there is a perverse sense of equality inside the streets of the run compared with beyond it. 'They really value me and I don't notice any unfavourable treatment or gender differences,' Puñal said. 'At all times I've just felt like one of the rest.' 'In the encierro the reality is that we're all exposed to the same risk,' Equiza González said.
Washington Post
13-07-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
At Pamplona's San Fermin festival, a tiny minority of women run with bulls
PAMPLONA, Spain — Dressed in the traditional bull runner's garb of a white shirt and red neck-scarf, Yomara Martínez, 30, sprinted in the death-defying morning run or 'encierros' taking place this week in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona. Yet despite being in a crowd of thousands, Martínez was among only a handful of women daredevils running with the stampeding bulls at the San Fermín Festival. 'At the end of the day, the bull doesn't know about sexes, age or body shape,' Martinez said. 'It doesn't matter if you are woman.' Every year, thousands of people line the medieval streets of Pamplona to witness the centuries-old tradition of running with bulls. Many watch from balconies and wooden barricades along the course. Millions more follow the spectacle on television. Women bull runners are rare, though Martínez and other women taking part in the adrenaline-fueled tradition as more than mere spectators say it's growing in popularity. 'There are times I feel small. And ask myself 'what am I doing here?' Because, although you may not want to, you do feel slightly inferior because of your physique,' said 32-year-old Sara Puñal, an administrator who took part in Sunday's run. 'But in the moment, you are all equal,' Puñal said of the run. The bulls pound along the twisting cobblestone streets after being led by six steers. Up to 4,000 runners take part in each bull run, which takes place over 846 meters (2,775 feet) and can last two to four minutes. The expert Spanish runners try to sprint just in front of the bull's horns for a few seconds while egging the animal on with a rolled newspaper. Gorings are not rare, but many more people are bruised and injured in falls and pileups with each other. 'I think many have a desire to see what it feels like but they don't try because of fear,' said Paula López, 32, a shop assistant who also took part in a run earlier in the week. López said she grew up in the masculine world of bull fighting. She wasn't fazed by how few women take part in the event. 'It's complicated, but it is pretty exciting,' López said. The event's reputation took a hit years ago following complaints by women about having suffered sexual harassment and abuse from revelers. In 2016, five men raped an 18-year-old woman during the festival in an infamous case that sparked an outcry across Spain. The men, who had a WhatsApp group named 'La Manada,' or 'The Animal Pack,' were imprisoned for 15 years by the Supreme Court in 2019. Since then, organizers have said they've stepped up security measures. Women didn't participate in the bull runs until 1975 due to a decree repealed one year earlier that prohibited women, children and the elderly from being in the streets where the bulls run during the festival. The spectacle was made internationally famous by Ernest Hemingway's classic 1926 novel 'The Sun Also Rises,' about American bohemians wasting away in Europe. —— Naishadham reported from Madrid.
Associated Press
13-07-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
At Pamplona's San Fermín festival, a tiny minority of women run with bulls
PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) — Dressed in the traditional bull runner's garb of a white shirt and red neck-scarf, Yomara Martínez, 30, sprinted in the death-defying morning run or 'encierros' taking place this week in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona. Yet despite being in a crowd of thousands, Martínez was among only a handful of women daredevils running with the stampeding bulls at the San Fermín Festival. 'At the end of the day, the bull doesn't know about sexes, age or body shape,' Martinez said. 'It doesn't matter if you are woman.' Every year, thousands of people line the medieval streets of Pamplona to witness the centuries-old tradition of running with bulls. Many watch from balconies and wooden barricades along the course. Millions more follow the spectacle on television. Women bull runners are rare, though Martínez and other women taking part in the adrenaline-fueled tradition as more than mere spectators say it's growing in popularity. 'There are times I feel small. And ask myself 'what am I doing here?' Because, although you may not want to, you do feel slightly inferior because of your physique,' said 32-year-old Sara Puñal, an administrator who took part in Sunday's run. 'But in the moment, you are all equal,' Puñal said of the run. The bulls pound along the twisting cobblestone streets after being led by six steers. Up to 4,000 runners take part in each bull run, which takes place over 846 meters (2,775 feet) and can last two to four minutes. The expert Spanish runners try to sprint just in front of the bull's horns for a few seconds while egging the animal on with a rolled newspaper. Gorings are not rare, but many more people are bruised and injured in falls and pileups with each other. 'I think many have a desire to see what it feels like but they don't try because of fear,' said Paula López, 32, a shop assistant who also took part in a run earlier in the week. López said she grew up in the masculine world of bull fighting. She wasn't fazed by how few women take part in the event. 'It's complicated, but it is pretty exciting,' López said. The event's reputation took a hit years ago following complaints by women about having suffered sexual harassment and abuse from revelers. In 2016, five men raped an 18-year-old woman during the festival in an infamous case that sparked an outcry across Spain. The men, who had a WhatsApp group named 'La Manada,' or 'The Animal Pack,' were imprisoned for 15 years by the Supreme Court in 2019. Since then, organizers have said they've stepped up security measures. Women didn't participate in the bull runs until 1975 due to a decree repealed one year earlier that prohibited women, children and the elderly from being in the streets where the bulls run during the festival. The spectacle was made internationally famous by Ernest Hemingway's classic 1926 novel 'The Sun Also Rises,' about American bohemians wasting away in Europe. —— Naishadham reported from Madrid.
The Independent
13-07-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
At Pamplona's San Fermín festival, a tiny minority of women run with bulls
Dressed in the traditional bull runner's garb of a white shirt and red neck-scarf, Yomara Martínez, 30, sprinted in the death-defying morning run or 'encierros' taking place this week in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona. Yet despite being in a crowd of thousands, Martínez was among only a handful of women daredevils running with the stampeding bulls at the San Fermín Festival. 'At the end of the day, the bull doesn't know about sexes, age or body shape,' Martinez said. 'It doesn't matter if you are woman.' Every year, thousands of people line the medieval streets of Pamplona to witness the centuries-old tradition of running with bulls. Many watch from balconies and wooden barricades along the course. Millions more follow the spectacle on television. Women bull runners are rare, though Martínez and other women taking part in the adrenaline-fueled tradition as more than mere spectators say it's growing in popularity. 'There are times I feel small. And ask myself 'what am I doing here?' Because, although you may not want to, you do feel slightly inferior because of your physique,' said 32-year-old Sara Puñal, an administrator who took part in Sunday's run. 'But in the moment, you are all equal,' Puñal said of the run. The bulls pound along the twisting cobblestone streets after being led by six steers. Up to 4,000 runners take part in each bull run, which takes place over 846 meters (2,775 feet) and can last two to four minutes. The expert Spanish runners try to sprint just in front of the bull's horns for a few seconds while egging the animal on with a rolled newspaper. Gorings are not rare, but many more people are bruised and injured in falls and pileups with each other. 'I think many have a desire to see what it feels like but they don't try because of fear,' said Paula López, 32, a shop assistant who also took part in a run earlier in the week. López said she grew up in the masculine world of bull fighting. She wasn't fazed by how few women take part in the event. 'It's complicated, but it is pretty exciting,' López said. The event's reputation took a hit years ago following complaints by women about having suffered sexual harassment and abuse from revelers. In 2016, five men raped an 18-year-old woman during the festival in an infamous case that sparked an outcry across Spain. The men, who had a WhatsApp group named 'La Manada,' or 'The Animal Pack,' were imprisoned for 15 years by the Supreme Court in 2019. Since then, organizers have said they've stepped up security measures. Women didn't participate in the bull runs until 1975 due to a decree repealed one year earlier that prohibited women, children and the elderly from being in the streets where the bulls run during the festival. The spectacle was made internationally famous by Ernest Hemingway's classic 1926 novel 'The Sun Also Rises,' about American bohemians wasting away in Europe. —— Naishadham reported from Madrid.
