News Categories

Ferry Destination News

Articles by Year

2012 - Archive

May 2012 (37 Articles)
April 2012 (43 Articles)
March 2012 (49 Articles)
February 2012 (42 Articles)
January 2012 (64 Articles)

Jump aboard to watch the bulls run in Spain

Now is a perfect time to get a ferry to Spain in the build up to northern Spain's most famous festival, the running of the bulls in the San Fermin festival, Pampalona.

The festival, popularised by Ernest Hemmingway in his novel "The Sun also Rises", takes place from the 6th to the 14th of July. Although bull running is one of the most well known aspects of the festival, there are many other gems for the eager tourist. The festival is opened every year at midday with a rocket being set off from the town hall balcony, a celebration that is echoed throughout the town of Pampalona.

The bull run, perhaps the most famous part of the festival and which takes place over half a mile in the centre of the city, takes place mid-way through the festival. It begins at 8am with the release of the bulls. Runners, who have earlier taken the precaution of asking for protection from the local saint, then run down the marked course into the centre of the town. The event is over in just over three minutes when the bulls are sent into their corrals.

Tourists who may be tempted to join in are gently reminded that every year there are between 200 and 300 injuries amongst participants to the event, and there have been 15 deaths since 1925. Another highlight of the festival is the traditional fancy dress parades of Giants and Big heads. This perfectly complements the daily series of traditional Basque country dances and sports rarely seen outside of the area. The festival closes by all the participants joining together in one of the town's main squares to sing the lament Pobre de Mi ("Woe is me").

P&O and Brittany Ferriesm both provide travel options to people wanting to visit Spain this year with regular ferries from Plymouth and Portsmouth to Santander and Bilbao.