Are tourists aloud to participate in the bull run in Pomplona Spain.?

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zafir

Firstly, the town is Pamplona and the festival is San Fermin. The bull run is part of this festival. Anyone can run, including women. Most problems are caused by tourists who haven't taken the time to work out the course, are still drunk from the night before, or panic, and thereby cause pile-ups. The Spanish take more care. The really bad drunks and trouble-makers are removed by security before the run starts.

Now for some statistics. Since 1980 there have only been 3 fatalities. So far, so good. You might, however, like to consider the following figures from 1980 to 2005 when there were:

190 gorings
3 fatalities
839 admitted to hospital from other injuries sustained in the bull run (one fatal)
6,000+ runners received first aid

Figures aren't available for the 2008 run, but in 2007:

11 people were gored
41 admitted to hospital
329 received first aid.

Goring can be pretty nasty, with many of the people concerned sustaining bad internal injuries. No, they didn't die, but probably wished at some point they had.

If you want more information go to http://www.sanfermin.com and read carefully the pages on how to do the bull run. These pages are written by people who have and do participate and know what their talking about.

Ian A

Anyone can enter, gods speed is required though...yah

Katie

I'm pretty sure that they can. I saw a documentary on the travel channel with like some American college students backpacking Europe and that was one of their stops.

Carousel

Well, if you are lucky and only break a leg, how will your travel insurance view it. If something worse happens your travel insurance will be void and it could cost you a lot of money, but if you feel the risk is worth it, then feel free.

wozza.lad

only the cruel and insane,
I notice that the people showing the statistics dont mention how many bulls are killed and injured ,they have no choice in the matterÂ¡ the idiots that participate do

lili-rose

omg you want to go to that?
i think it is the most terrifying thing on earth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SOC JO! A capite ad calcem

Yes it is allowed.Anyone can do it.But be careful.Pamplona is a nice place to visit as well.
The Running of the Bulls (in Spanish encierro, from the verb encerrar, to shut in, to lock up) is a practice that involves running in front of bulls that have been let loose on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets. The most famous running of the bulls is that of the nine-day festival of San FermÃn in Pamplona, although they are held in towns and villages across Spain and in some cities in southern France, during the summer. Unlike bullfights, which are performed by professionals, anyone may participate in an encierro.

The origin of this custom is the transport of the bulls from the off-site corrals where they had spent the night to the bullring where they would be killed in the evening. Youngsters would jump among them to show off their bravado.

Injuries are common to the participants who may be gored or trampled,(so be careful), and to the bulls, whose hooves grip poorly on the paved or cobbled street surfaces

Lynxpardina

First of all, it's Pamplona.
Anyone can run.In fact that drunk idiot you are talking about usually is a tourist. And please, don't kid yourself. It's true that very people die, but there are always several injuries from the horns ( I don't really know if you have a word for "cornada"). And also from falling and being step by people and bulls, that usually weigh about 600 Kg. If you want to run, please make sure you learn all the rules, such as don't get up once you have fall until someone tels you that all the bulls have passed. Otherwise you can get up just in the moment the bull comes and it wont avoid you.
And don't go if you are drunk. Reflexes are very important. Also try not to run in weekends. There's always a lot of people and it can get really dangerous. You should know that one of the reason why people don't die is because the emergency services are very prepared for these kinds of injuries. In other parts of Spain many more would die.
One more thing. Apparently in the tourists guides you people have it says that is a tradition jumping from a fountain. I just want you to know that that's a tradition that tourists started and only tourists do. And there have also been deaths there because people who jump are drunk and the ones that are supposed to catch him or her are also drunk and sometimes they don't catch the person. It's not very high but people usually fall in their heads.

SUE

Uhhh, yeah, it's pretty dangerous. Hundreds of crazy drunken tourists (yeah, tourists are usually the larger percentage of the runners) running from a bunch of crazy bulls with no understanding of all the noise and fracas...in a pretty confined space...yeah, running is pretty dangerous. Even the spectators occasionally get injured, despite the barriers they put up.

And, yeah, it's usually some drunk idiot who gets killed, but there are a lot of injuries that you don't hear about.

It's a great test of manhood and courage. I wouldn't say DON'T do it. Yes, tourist are allowed. You're supposed to wear all white with a red sash around your waist. I think a beret is a nice addition, but I can't recall specifically if anyone wears them for the running itself. But don't do it inadvisedly. And know, it's REALLY expensive to stay during the feria. The same room that runs 50â‚¬ the rest of the year costs upwards of 300â‚¬ during the feria. Even staying in another town nearby is expensive, and I've heard they no longer allow people to sleep in the parks...they haul them off to jail.

willsy

If you really like doing stupid things, then yes, go ahead. But you may want to go to Pamplona instead.

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