Posted on 07/06/2007 1:08:33 PM PDT by mgstarr
Thousands of revelers sprayed each other with sparkling wine and the mayor of this northeastern city launched a skyrocket at noon Friday to start Spain's most famous festival, the San Fermin running of the bulls.
"Men and women of Pamplona, viva San Fermin!" Mayor Yolanda Barcina shouted from the city hall balcony. Crowds packed the town hall square, most dressed in the traditional garb of white shirts and trousers, and red handkerchiefs.
Residents threw water on the revelers from balconies to cool them off.
The launch of the skyrocket, known as the "chupinazo," began the nine-day fiesta that was popularized internationally by Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and centers around the daily running of the bulls.
The first bull run takes place Saturday. The spectacle, repeated each day until July 14, is broadcast live on Spanish television.
The festival, held since 1591, attracts tens of thousands of people. Many had spent the night drinking and partying.
Sara Newey, 23, and Rene Armstrong, 25, from Perth, Australia, recounted everything they had to drink in the last 12 hours: a bottle of Jack Daniels, several bottles of sangria and six beers each.
"You just have to keep going," Newey said, holding a carton of sangria in one hand and a bottle of sparkling wine in the other. They came on a tour with 600 other Australians.
Thuy Trinh, 28, a nondrinker from London, might have been the only sober person among the throngs.
"It's a bit crazy, but I love seeing people enjoying themselves," she said.
In the runs, held at 8 a.m. daily, people test their mettle and stamina by racing with six bulls along a 875-yard route from a corral to the city bullring. The bulls are fought by professional bullfighters each afternoon.
Since records began in 1924, 13 people have been killed in the runs. The last fatality occurred in 1995, when a 22-year-old American was gored to death.
On Thursday, hundreds of members of the U.S.-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, staged a near-naked protest march, shouting slogans such as "Torture isn't culture," and "Bulls yes! Bullfighters no!"
Unlike bull fights, which are performed by professionals, anyone may participate in an encierro, and there is never violence towards the bulls — even tail-pulling is frowned upon. Injuries are common, both to the participants who may be gored or trampled, and to the bulls, whose hooves grip poorly on the paved or cobbled street surfaces.
So yeah, it is bad for the bulls, and it's a fountain of stupid anyway. But let's not get all PETA about it.
He would be.
That said, Pope John Paul II had more brass than Papa.
There is a lot more than the bull running and fights, you get to dance In the streets for hours, and hours, with some of the most beautiful women in the world, Spanish, French, English, Italian, German , Swedish, etc, etc. all there to have a good time and party, party, party. Then there is the food and the vino, the best there is, a wonderful experience.
Next view: The inside of the ambulance or the emergency room.
I agree! Ban football too. Why should 300lb grown men be tackling each other? < /S >
Yes but with football, they temper the violence by patting each other on their bottoms, so it's doable. :)
That city was 5% of it's size when Hemingway visited. If you want to see what the place looked like, go north to the foothills of the Pyrinees. Not far away. It looks like Heaven where everything planted grows. The Basques are the best managers of farms, animals, and ranches on both sides of the mountains. Check out their restaurants too.
Sounds like great fun. They should try it without the fountain of stupid sometime. :-)
I take the side of kindness over cruelty.
You, on the other hand, are just a nasty individual. And I’m done with you.
Spanish fakey Machismo “No mas!” culture? ;-))
The culture that cuts and runs — from bulls or Al Queda?
Glad I’m not there. It might be a health risk for the Spanish Human Pamploma Virus.
Since records began in 1924, 13 people have been killed in the runs.
Go steam some broccoli or something. Fetch a beer. Do something worthwhile, instead of wasting your time posting obsequious verbage.
“Freight-trained?!”“Run over, just like a freight train, only with a bull, it’s worse, cause a freight train don’t back up and finish the job.”
— Stir Crazy.
My “Hemingway Moment” happened at the bull ring in Mexico City. A friend and I bought the best tickets we could get (on the Shady Side, naturally). We wound up in the second row behind a young couple who were definitely Beautiful People, interviewed by a TV reporter before the fights began. In one of the fights, the novice matador gave them his cape to hold, which attracted some attention to our vicinity. As usual, it began to rain about the time their guy got serious with the bull. They had a small tarp which they offered us to help shelter all four of us. The novice didn’t do well at all . . . three or four cushions came sailing down directly on us. I guess the tarp was for more than just rain protection!
I worked with guy who did the run...said it was unreal. He said that everytime he looked over his shoulder a body was flying through the air...he said it was one of the neatest things he ever did.
I’ve always liked the line from Tom Lehrer’s song “In Old Mexico”, where he referred to the fighting bull as “a half a ton of angry pot roast”.
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