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!"
Most barbarians have at least enough intelligence to keep their barbaric desires quiet among those they consider their allies.
Too bad you’re lacking this intelligence.
I am against cruelty to animals. I don’t like bull fighting/running and wouldn’t mind if it were banned.
That said, anyone who wishes a miserable death on people for being cruel is so stupid and hypocritical I would NEVER consider them an ally. I’m on the side of intelligence and putting human life over that of animals.
So what are you waiting for, Chico, why don’t you just go and join the ALF and start killing people already? You have their misplaced rage and line-of-reasoning down pat.
As I said, I don’t like bull fighting and wouldn’t mind it being banned.
Conservatism is based nn intelligent reasoning. Your rationale (kill people because they are cruel to animals) is not intelligent. Conservatism also holds human life above that of animals, even when those humans are being stupid and cruel for their own silly macho rush. I think killing people and wishing death on them is ignorant.
You don’t change people by killing them. That’s what the Islamofascists are attempting.
I hope some day you grow enough to regret your first post to me in this thread.
Of course, if people are trying to kill you or conquer you, it’s too late to try to change them and one must put self-preservation and liberty above debate at that point.
So I think I might be on-board with your suggestion.
:)
Yes, it's called sangria. My grandma's would make you kiss a rattlesnake on the mouth...except for the fact that there are no rattlesnakes in Spain, but you get the idea.
Why did you do that??
Dude, I was talking about the running of the bulls specifically when I metioned PETA. I oppose bullfighting. Put that thing back in your holster.
Spain: Brave enough to let bulls chase them, but not brave enough to fight the killers of women and children. Says a lot.
If they were not dumb, they, being the bulls and attendees wouldn’t have booked a flight to Pamplona.
I think you get it, you obseqious, pietous twit.
Your post belongs on a seldom visited cow blog.
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