Running of the bulls

One thing, which every year attracts the worlds attention on Spain, is the running of the bulls. Normally it appears on the television news telling that people have been hurt during practicing it. But what are the roots? How does this event work? This article wants to give an short overview about one of the worlds most knowing events about Spain.

The encierro (from the verb encerrar, to lock/shut up, to pen) is a costum which is held in towns and villages around Spain, some cities in Mexico and in the south of France during the summer. The most famous encierro is held in Pamplona (Spain).

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.

Before the running of the bulls, a set of wooden or iron barricades is erected to direct the bulls along the route and to block off sidestreets. There may be a double row of barricades along the route to allow runners to quickly exit in case of danger. The gaps in the barricades are wide enough for a person to slip through, but narrow enough to block a bull.

A group of large oxen are released at the end of the run to pick up any stragglers and a run is considered good if the bulls flow swiftly. Whenever a bull gets separated from the herd, it can be very dangerous because it becomes disoriented and often attacks anything, or anyone who attracts its attention. Unlike bullfights, which are performed by professionals, anyone may participate in an encierro.

The bullruns are dangerous. From time to time participators are catched up by the bulls and gored ore get trampled by their hooves. But this danger is one of the biggest appeals for the people to join this event. Some aspects are advised to potentional runners:

• Don´t drink before participate a bullrun
• Warm-up before the run
• Beware a good distance to the bulls
• On straight ways run on the outer side of the street
• Take curves only on the inner side
• If you fell down, only stand up, when the bull went away. If you are on the ground stay as tight as possible to the ground, so the bull cannot pick you up with his horns.
• Take something like a newspaper with you to deflect the bull if it is necessary

The following video shows a short reportage about the San Fermin festival in Pamplona and what can happen, when you are on the wrong time at the wrong place….

Recourses:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encierro_(tauromaquia)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_of_the_Bulls

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stierlauf