BARCELONA – On Monday, for the first time since the civil war in Spain, helmet clapping and screaming of excitement will not be heard in the streets of Pamplona as the bulls attack the crowd of thousands of fleeing people.
Made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises”, the historic San Fermin Bullfight Festival typically draws hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world to drink, dance, and run the streets of the Spanish city.
Although it has survived previous pandemics, this year’s event was canceled in April because the country’s coronavirus outbreak was out of control.
“It is very strange and sad,” said Carmelo Buttini Echarte, 52, one of the best-known bullfighters, who said he has not missed a bullfight in 40 years from his first at age 12.
He said he “couldn’t hold back my tears” after discovering it had been canceled.
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Laying you is part of the third generation of his family to run a library on the route of races, or running of the bulls. As in every two years, she placed a clock in front of the library that counts the days, hours and minutes until the chupinazo, a celebratory rocket, leaves the City Hall at noon on July 6, marking the start of the festival. , which runs until July 14.
“Usually, I look at the clock every day and think, ‘One less day to go,'” he said. “Now I look at it and I feel devastated.”
He said he has rejected a request from the authorities to lower the watch.
The event originated in the 14th century, when farmers transported bulls from the fields to the old town square to sell them at the market, said Echarte, who studied the history of the festival. Farmers ran in front of their animals to encourage them, he said.
Initially, the races were prohibited, but the people of Pamplona continued to run. In 1867, the authorities issued the edicts on the executions that are still in force today.
Normally, the running of the bulls takes place every day at 8 am from July 7 to 14. Six bulls start from a corral on the edge of the old town and attack through excited crowds, around 20,000 people, many of them in traditional all-white attire. red scarf, to the sand. There, the matadors fight and kill the animals in the afternoon.
Although there will be no live broadcasts this year, the state broadcaster TVE will play replays of previous years every morning.
A limited number of people will be allowed to enter the narrow streets of the old town, although the police will impose strict capacity limits and signs will alert attendees when the main squares fill up.
Bars and restaurants, some of which depend on the festival for a fifth of their annual income, will be forced to meet strict distancing guidelines and have been banned from setting additional tables on the streets.
On Tuesday a mass will be celebrated for San Fermín, who is said to be the son of a Roman senator who converted to Christianity in the 3rd century, before becoming the first Bishop of Pamplona.
Urging people to be sensible, the mayor of Pamplona said last week that “it would be strange for everyone,” but that he hoped he could be “proud of our behavior.”
Laura Duarte, president of the Animalist Party Against Animal Abuse, a political party that fights against animal abuse, said the cancellation was “good news, because animals will not suffer.”
However, she said that the festival was much more than bullfighting.
“We would like to enjoy the festival every year without people or animals spilling blood,” he said.
In a country where bullfighting is still popular, she remains in the minority.
Many, like Sergio Folch, 21, are eager for the races to return, despite spending 20 days in a coma after a bull ran over his lungs in October 2018.
“I suffered a chest compression fracture,” said Folch, who trains four days a week to participate in bullfights in Spain.
He said he understood why this year’s event had been canceled.
“I know my life is at risk, but I’d rather die doing something I love than die working or sleeping,” said Folch, who turned 20 in the hospital. “If life scares you, you end up doing nothing.”
