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Spain: 6 injured in Pamplona bull run

July 7, 2023

Medics say six people have been hurt, none badly, on the first day of the famous "running of the bulls" in the northern Spanish city. The event is strongly opposed by animal rights activists.

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People running ahead of bulls in Pamplona
The event in Pamplona is attended by thousandsImage: Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images

The first bull running race in Spain's San Fermin festival in the northern city of Pamplona took place on Friday, with six people suffering slight injuries in falls or from being trampled.

The popular event, during which a group of bulls races through the city's narrow cobbled streets, has led to 16 fatalities since 1911. 

Four runners were gored in the festival last year.

What happened at Friday's race?

"Six people were taken to hospital" with injuries to the face or limbs, Red Cross spokesman Jose Aldaba told Spain's public television.

"None of the injuries seem to be serious," Aldaba said.

"For a July 7, which is still one of the most crowded, it has been a 'clean' run," he added. The event traditionally begins on July 7, with thousands usually attending the first race.

Last year, when the running of the bulls in Pamplona resumed after a two-year break during the coronavirus pandemic, nearly 1.7 million people visited Pamplona. Even more are expected this year, with all COVID-19 restrictions now lifted.

An official tour guide group, Destino Navarra, said 70% of the total bookings this year were by people from the US and Canada.

Some participants falling during the bull run
Several people were injured after falling or being trampledImage: Cesar Manso/AFP/Getty Images

Summer highlight in Spain

The San Fermin festival in Pamplona is the best known of the Spanish bull-running events in summer, and was made famous worldwide by US author Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises." This year marks the 100th anniversary of Hemingway's first visit to the festival.

In Friday's run, six bulls guided by six tame oxen ran through Pamplona's streets for around two minutes and 30 seconds before reaching a bull ring, while expert bull runners sprinted ahead of them before running to the side at the last moment.  

The participating bulls are killed in the afternoon by professional bullfighters.

Altogether eight such runs are scheduled for this festival, which otherwise features cultural events in addition to much drinking and eating.

The Pamplona festival is regularly criticized by animal rights activists as involving cruelty to the animals involved.

tj/lo (AFP, AP)