One runner has been gored in the face and more injured during a chaotic bull run at Spain’s San Fermin festival on Saturday. The six bulls and accompanying steers charged through crowds of thrill-seekers who packed the narrow street course in Pamplona. One runner was pierced by a horn in the face, while 12 more people needed medical treatment for an assortment of knocks, according to the University of Navarra Hospital.
The last death at San Fermin’s bull runs occurred in 2009, but gorings and broken bones are common, partly due to the large number of novice bull runners and foreign tourists who join the experienced locals. While running with bulls is a cherished local custom for Spanish daredevils, Americans are the leading group of foreigners who run at the San Fermin festival. In 2022, 16% of the bull runners were Americans, the largest percentage among foreigners and four times more than those from neighboring France, according to Pamplona’s City Hall.
The huge animals knocked bodies to the cobblestones, and stumbling runners caused several pileups during the two-and-a-half-minute run from the pen to the bull ring where bullfighters will kill the bulls later in the day. A black bull broke away from the pack early in the 875-meter (957-yard) run and plowed into a group of people, smacking one full in the side of the face with a horn. It was not clear if that was the moment of the goring.
Many runners appeared completely unaware when bulls were breathing down their necks and, instead of trying to gore them, just shoved them out of the way. Saturday’s was the fifth morning run of the eight-day festival in northern Spain. This year’s festival comes 100 years since the publication of Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun Also Rises,” whose publication launched the San Fermin festival to international fame.
Bill Hillmann has been gored three times while running with the bulls in Spain, but he wouldn’t miss this year’s San Fermin festival for anything. It marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ernest Hemingway’s book
