(Pamplona) Six people were slightly injured Friday during the first release of bulls of the famous festivals of San Fermin in Pamplona which each year attracts tourists from all over the world in this city in the north of Spain, indicated the Red Cross .
“Six people have been transferred” to the hospital, Jose Aldaba, a spokesman for the organization, told Spanish public television. These injuries “do not seem serious”, he detailed, referring to “bruises” on the face, arms or legs.
During these festivities, which take place every year from July 6 to 15, hundreds of daring runners, wearing a white shirt or t-shirt and a red scarf, attempt each morning at 8 a.m. (2 a.m. Eastern Time) , over eight days, to get as close as possible to six fighting bulls during an 850-meter race through the narrow cobbled streets of the city.
PHOTO MIGUEL RIOPA, FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY
Immortalized in 1926 by Ernest Hemingway in his novel The Sun Also Risesthe San Fermin festivities attract tourists from all over the world.
The releases of bulls (“encierros”) cause dozens of injuries and sometimes deaths there every year.
Since 1911, when data began to be compiled, at least 16 runners have died. The last dates back to 2009 when a bull gored a 27-year-old Spaniard.