Any pro-San Ferminer knows the milestones of the festivities and how to navigate the streets of La Vieja Iruña so as not to miss one. Occasional visitors, however, should use some notes to be able to enjoy the most important moments of these second Sanfermines after the pandemic, avoiding remaining superficial.
There are a thousand ways to experience the festivities, although the people of Pamplona synthesize them into two: doing it like a local or living it like a foreigner, a term widely used by locals to refer to visitors, even if they have barely traveled 150 kilometers to get there. However, you don’t have to be from Pamplona, ??Baztan or Tafalla to experience Sanfermines in parameters that are more or less similar to how someone who has been tying their handkerchief since childhood experiences them. The important thing is to let yourself be guided, without prejudice, by those who know the party and to participate willingly in the great moments of the parties.
The first festive milestone is the Chupinazo, which every July 6, the eve of San Fermín, is launched from the balcony of the Town Hall at twelve noon. This moment, today one of the iconic images of the party, began as a spontaneous act, by the hand of Juanito Etxepare.
It is known that around 1931 this resident of the Casco Viejo of Pamplona launched a rocket from the Plaza del Castillo before the start of the festivities. He did it surrounded by children and in a completely spontaneous and popular way. This Republican tobacconist was shot in the Civil War, although paradoxically the Franco regime institutionalized that act, took it to the Town Hall and used it politically
Since then, the chupinazo has been launched from the balcony of the Town Hall and thousands of people follow this moment from the same square or from the neighboring Plaza del Castillo. Entering the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, whose dimensions are much smaller than it appears on television, is a real challenge and getting there without pushing requires doing it well in advance (at least an hour and a quarter).
In any case, anyone wishing to follow the start of the festival from the Plaza del Ayuntamiento should know that it can be very tiring and that it is likely that they will be flooded with water and kalimotxo.
This year’s chupinazo will be launched by Osasuna, by designation of the outgoing mayor, after having starred in a great season. The president of the club, Luis Sabalza, will light the fuse after the traditional: “pamploneses, pamplonesas, long live San Fermín! Iruindarrok, gora San Fermin!”
Before the launch of the chupinazo, the people of Pamplona gather to have breakfast accompanied by their family or friends. It is not a typical breakfast, but a lunch based on fried eggs, txistorra, tortillas or sausages.
The lunch is usually done in private homes, bars and restaurants, gastronomic societies, clubs or even on the street itself.
Many catering establishments offer lunch before the chupinazo, although making a reservation can be complicated and requires advance notice. In the Urtzi bar on San Gregorio street, the price of lunch is 15 euros, although the chances of making a reservation are practically nil: “The same crews have been coming for 20 years and that’s what we fill it up with.”
After lunch, the liveliest choose to go to the center of the party to follow the chupinazo live or, failing that, they follow it on television.
The San Fermín Procession is the great institutional act on the 7th and takes the Municipal Corporation, dressed in gala, through the entire Old Town of Pamplona. It starts at 10:00 in the morning. First, they pick up the chapter in the cathedral and, later, they go to the chapel of San Fermín, in the church of San Lorenzo.
The Corporation is accompanied by txistularis, clarinet players, timbaleros, maceros, escort, bagpipers, the Comparsa of giants and big heads and the music band La Pamplonesa. Throughout the tour, several moments are experienced: jotas in the Plaza del Concejo and in Calle Mayor, the offering to the sound of Agur Jaunak in San Saturnino or the dance of the Comparsa de gigantes next to the Cathedral.
Pamplona is a very plural city – attest to the results of the last elections – and this event faithfully reflects this plurality. The most traditional people of Pamplona do not miss the mass in honor of the saint, which takes place during the Procession. Other Pamploneses, however, come to the event to enjoy the Comparsa de Gigantes, an institution in the city that launched the chupinazo in 2010, or simply to enjoy the great atmosphere that exists.
The running of the bulls is the claim with the greatest international projection of the festivities. The first running of the bulls will take place on the 7th, at 8:00 am, and the last one on the 14th. These are the running of the bulls for this year.
• July 7: Bulls of La Palmosilla (Cádiz)
• July 8: Bulls of José Escolar (Ávila)
• July 9: Bulls of Cebada Cabo (Cádiz)
• July 10: Bulls of Fuente Ymbro (Cádiz)
• July 11: Bulls of Núñez del Cuvillo (Cádiz)
• July 12: Jandilla Bulls (Badajoz)
• July 13: Bulls of Victoriano del Río (Madrid)
• July 14: Bulls of Miura (Seville)
The San Fermines also have a flashy Bull Fair, which will begin with a bullfight on the 5th and will last until the Miura bullfight on the 14th.
The clubs play a fundamental role during the Sanfermines, especially for the people of Pamplona. These groups of a playful nature bring together gangs of different generations, liven up the party in the streets, the Plaza de Toros or in their social venues, and organize recreational and cultural activities.
The city has 17 clubs: Donibane, Aldapa, Alegría de Iruña, July 7 San Fermín, Los de Bronce, El Buslicio Pamplonés, Anaitasuna, Armonía Txantreana, Irrintzi, La Jarana, Muthiko Alaiak, Oberena, Rotxapea, Sandu- zelai, El Charco, La Única and Mutilzarra.
Most of the clubs’ headquarters are located around Calle Jarauta, in La Estafeta or Calle del Carmen, in the city’s Casco Viejo.
The XXII San Fermín International Fireworks Competition takes place every night at 11:00 p.m., just before the concerts organized in Plaza del Castillo, Plaza de los Fueros or Plaza Compañía.
This year’s program has Ana Torroja, Fangoria, Ana Mena, En Tol Sarmiento (ETS) or Dani Fernández as the most prestigious artists, although it is worth letting yourself be seduced by other not-so-known proposals and going to concerts like the one that Merina Gris will offer, together with Delaporte, on the 11th or at the performance of Chico Trujillo two days before. The concert program can be consulted here.
The city has some exceptional locations to enjoy the fireworks: the Vuelta del Castillo park is the best known, although they can also be enjoyed from the Paseo Sarasate or from the area of ??the walls.
The departure of the Comparsa of giants and big heads (every day at 9.30 am), the targets (at 6.45 am), the churros of La Mañueta, the ball games in the Labrit pediment, the jacks of the Sarasate promenade, the Basque rural sport in the Plaza de los Fueros, the bertsolaris sessions in Sarasate or the festivals and parades that are held throughout the city are other attractions of the festivities.
The Sanfermines end with Pobre de mí, an act at the end of the festivities that takes place on July 14 at 12:00 a.m. in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
The residents gather there and, in addition to singing Poor Me (“poor me, poor me, the San Fermín festivities are over”), they come with a candle in a glass.
Far from the revelry of the chupinazo, it is a more familiar act and with a sad point, an event hated by the people of Pamplona, ??especially since it means the end of the festivities.
Although it is the last official act and closes the Sanfermines, on the night of the 14th some bars are still open and this year, as it is Friday, it is likely that many will burn their last cartridge.
The complete program of the Sanfermines can be consulted at this link.
