“The Running of the Bulls” in Pamplona, ​​northern Spain | News from art and culture

At least two runners were injured during the third bull running at the traditional San Fermin festival in Pamplona, ​​northern Spain.

Thousands of people, dressed in traditional white clothes and red scarves, filled Pamplona’s town hall square on Saturday to witness the “chupinazo” – the setting off of a giant firework – which marked the start of the nine-day festival.

The race became world famous after the American writer Ernest Hemingway immortalized it in his 1926 novel Fiesta.

Pamplona is bathed in red and white. The Sanfermin celebrations, whose medieval origins date back to the 16th century, also include concerts, religious processions and lots of wine.

The highlight, however, comes every day at 8 a.m., when hundreds of participants plunge into a dangerous race with six heavy fighting bulls, some of which weigh more than 600 kg, through the narrow streets of the city center.

In the intense “Run of the Bulls”, which lasts less than three minutes, runners try to get as close to the animals as possible as they sprint to the Pamplona bullring, where bullfights take place in the afternoon and the animals are killed by matadors.

On Sunday, six people were injured, one participant was impaled and five suffered bruises. There have been 16 deaths since 1924, the last in 2009.

Animal rights activists have called bull racing “medieval cruelty” and are calling for an immediate end. They say bull racing is just panicked animals trying to escape through screaming crowds.