“Let the waters pour”

Photo: Javier Martínez de La Puente
6th July 2014

Traditions are traditions are one of these is to call for water on the day of the Txupinazo opening event. Even though this year there was no shortage of rain from the sky, the party revelers felt that they had to have their traditional soaking from buckets and basins being poured from the balconies. And to that end, they beseeched some icy water with some typical lines such as “No seas rata, el agua está barata” and “Aquí no hay sequía, está en Andalucía”!

The Red Cross treated 17 people during the Txupinazo Opening rocket

According to a statement issued by The Red Cross, 17 people received treatment from their emergency services, located near the Town Hall square. Just one person, at the fountain in the Navarrería, needed to be taken off to hospital.

Meanwhile, The First-Aid Center, located at Colegio Público Vázquez de Mella treated four cases throughout the morning.

Sanfermin 2014 opens with the Txupinazo rocket

TXUPINAZO2 2015 LIVE

ALL THE PHOTOS OF TXUPINAZO 2014 by Javier Martínez

ALL THE PHOTOS OF TXUPINAZO 2014 by Carlos Mediavilla

Txupinazo Live (Spanish language)

This is how the Txupinazo opening rocket of Sanfermin 2014 was reported by us:

12:08 h. The fiestas now spread out across the whole of the old quarter of the city. Sanfermin 2014 is now on. Thank you for following this broadcast at Sanfermin.com

sevalafiesta

12:03 h. “Pamplonesas, pamploneses, Iruñeko seme-alabak, ¡Viva san fermín, gora san Fermín!”. This was how Mikel Martínez, presidente de Cruz Roja Navarra, declared the fiestas open.

12:01 h. PAMPLONESES, PAMPLONESAS, VIVA SANFERMIN, GORA SANFERMIN

11:59 h. Sanfermin, Sanfermin, Sanfermin, Sanfermin, Sanfermin

11:58 h. The authorities appear on the balcony of City Hall. In 2 minutes time, Mikel Martínez, in representation of The Red Cross will set off the opening rocket. Thousands and thousands of people are waiting to put on their bandanas.

11:52 h. Thousands acclaim the recently retired football player, Patxi Puñal, the charismatic captain of Pamplona’s soccer team, and the most important professional team in Navarra. Only 7 minutes to go and it seems there will be no unexpected delays this year.

11:42 h. Several banners with political slogans can be seen in the square. Shouts of Sanfermin, Sanfermin.

txupinazo-politic

11:39 h. With just 20 minutes to go for the Txupinazo, city hall square is now jam-packed. There are several youths with political banners in the middle of the square, but no confrontations and simply lots of yearning for the fiestas to begin.

11:16 h. Some political slogans can be heard being shouted by some of the people in the crowded square, such as the classic “UPN Kanpora”, (UPN Get out) but there are louder shouts from the rest of the crowd “We are here to get drunk and we don’t care about the result”.

11:08 h. The color of wine covers everything. Some people are now being lifted onto the shoulders of their mates and the party mood is warming up.

14399099988_b46ec8a849_c

10:47 h. The square looks dazzling and crowded in red and white colors. There are still some gaps in the crowd, but they are closing fast.

txupinazo3

9:59 h. Everyone has one eye on the cloudy sky and checking the weather forecast on their cell phones. It seems likely to rain. The people shout “let it rain, “let it rain JB”

14605349133_ae15472605_c

9:49 h. The pólice start to search the people for prohibited glassware as they enter the city hall. Some drizzle is falling.

txupinazo01

9:12 h. People begin to move into the city hall square. The sky is dark and it is forecast to rain.

image

Photographs: Javier Martínez / Carlos Mediavilla

Sanfermin 2014 opens with the Txupinazo event, the traditional form of declaring the start of the Sanfermin fiestas, the biggest and best fiestas in the world. Mikel Martínez Monreal, the President of The Red Cross organization in Navarra, is the person selected to set off the rocket this year at 12 .00 midday in Pamplona.

El tiempo del Txupinazo

Actualizado día 5 de Julio a las 23:30

A poco más de 12 horas del txupinazo, la estimación según Aemet para el día 6 sigue siendo lluviosa, a y conforme avanzan las horas, la previsión se va complicando más y más. La probabilidad de lluvia a la hora del lanzamiento del txupinazo es prácticamente del 100%, con lo que parece que habrá que mojarse un poco. A primera hora de la tarde las lluvias puede que sean todavía más fuertes, aunque para esa hora ya no habrá aguacero ni tormenta que pueda con las ganas de fiesta.

En cuanto a la temperatura, se prevé una temperatura de 24 grados en el momento en el que estalle la fiesta, con lo que no hay excusa para perdérselo.

Sanfermin in other cities

It would seem that Pamplona is not the only place where the fiestas of Sanfermin are celebrated. Homages are paid in many other cities to the Sanfermin fiestas, organized by people who feel a strong connection with Sanfermin. One example of this is found in Bilbao, where, at 12.00 midday on the 6th of July, (this year on a Sunday) a rocket will be set off from the balconies of the Hogar Navarro (Navarra club) in Bilbao, in imitation of the Txupinazo opening rocket set off from Pamplona’s City Hall balconies. As well as the Txupinazo, on the 7th of July, at 11:30 a.m. there is a special mass celebrated in the church of San Nicolás de El Arenal in Bilbao with a choir of joteros under the name “Alegría de la Ribera”, and this is followed by a street parade with a brass band under the name “Sama Siku”.

At some distance away, in Nueva Orleans, there is a “Running of the Bulls” held on the 7th of July in commemoration of San Fermin Fiestas where some of the local people feel that they are implicated in the fiestas, ever since 2007. Since that year they have always organized a “Running of the Bulls” in which they make use of a metal bull and around a thousand runners run in front of it as they take part dressed up in their red and white gear. The finishing line is at the banks of the mighty Mississippi. It would indeed by an interesting experience to join them some year and to celebrate our fiestas on the other side of the “pond”.

Cruz roja lanzará el Txupinazo de 2014 por el 150 aniversario de su fundación

The Red Cross will set off the Txupinazo opening rocket for Sanfermin 2014 in recognition of the 150th anniversary of their foundation. The Navarra association of the Red Cross is the oldest in Spain, as it was founded on the 5th of July, 1864, one day earlier than the rest of the country, precisely so as not to coincide with the opening day of San Fermin fiestas on the 6th of July. The Mayor of Pamplona, Enrique Maya, made the official announcement this morning in a year when it was the turn of the nationalist party, Bildu to set off the rocket by designation. According to what we have learned from El Informador the person responsible for lighting the wick will be Mikel Martínez, who is president of the local Navarra committee of The Red Cross.

In addition to the fact that it is the 150th anniversary of the Foundation of the Red Cross, we have also been receiving messages at  Sanfermin.com from numerous people stating their wish to see The Red Cross launching the opening rocket because of the important role this organization played in helping the runners after the pile-up crush in the running of the bulls on the 13th of July, 2013. According to a statement from Pamplona City hall there exists “an agreement with regard to the whole area of civil protection which is annually signed by Pamplona City hall and The Red Cross” which means that this entity is always on hand during fiestas and forms part of the security network designated for some of the key events in fiestas such as the Chupinazo, the Pobre de Mí closing event or the Runnings of the Bulls, among many other events.

Juicio por el botellazo del Txupinazo de Sanfermin 2010

Esta mañana a las 10.30 ha comenzado el juicio en la Audiencia Provincial de Navarra por los incidentes que ocurrieron en el Txupinazo de Sanfermin de 2010. Está previsto que el juicio dure cinco días. Por un lado, el Ministerio Fiscal solicita para trece procesados quince meses de prisión por un delito de atentado a agente de la autoridad y un año más por otro delito de desórdenes públicos. A su vez, la fiscal pide tres años de prisión para uno de ellos ser el supuesto autor material del lanzamiento de una botella que hirió gravemente a otra persona.

Según señala Europa Press Navarra en su web, el acusado de lanzar un botellazo en el Txupinazo de 2010 ha declarado que él no lanzó ninguna botella. Según su versión, no llegó a entrar del todo en la Plaza del Ayuntamiento porque los agentes se estaban retirando y se mantuvo al margen de los forcejeos. La versión del Ministerio Fiscal apunta a que una botella de champán arrojada por el acusado impactó en la cabeza de un joven que participaba en la fiesta en la calle Calceteros (uno de los accesos laterales la plaza del Ayuntamiento de Pamplona).

La defensa solicita la libre absolución.
La acusación particular solicita para el autor del lanzamiento de la botella 6 años de prisión por un delito de lesiones y una indemnización total de 340.010,17 euros. A su vez, pide para cada uno de los trece acusados 5 años de prisión por un delito de desórdenes públicos, 6 años por el delito de atentado contra la autoridad y 6 meses de multa por falta de lesiones.

Al inicio del juicio se han concentrado en el exterior de la audiencia provincial un grupo de personas manifestando su apoyo a los encausados portando una pancarta en la que se podía leer: Guztion iruñean, Guztion Eskubideak. En la iruñea de tod@s, todos los derechos”

Video del botellazo obtenido del prefil de YouTube de Benbensussan.

Video del perfil de YouTube de Ateak Ireki que complementa al anterior. La acción de este segundo video es anterior al botellazo.

Sigue el hilo de la noticia:

Detenidos por un botellazo en el Txupinazo de Sanfermin 2010
El duro camino de José Carlos Arranz, por Informe Semanal
Prohibido el vidrio en el Chupinazo 2011
Información de Diario de Navarra 18 de noviembre de 2013
Información de Diario de Noticias de 18 de noviembre de 2013

En libertad los seis detenidos por los incidentes del Txupinazo

The judge has set free the six people charged with hanging a giant Basque flag in front of city hall just before the Sanfermin Txupinazo 2013 was to be set off.

10/15/13

Six people were detained yesterday morning at 8.30 a.m. in a joint operation carried out by the National Police Force and the Pamplona municipal police force. They were charged with creating the disturbances which occurred on the 6th of July in Pamplona at the Txupinazo opening event of the Sanfermin fiestas 2013. According to police sources cited by Diario de Navarra four of the charged are named as I. B., I. B., I. G., J. G., E. G. and M.V., all resident within Pamplona and its suburbs. They are charged with being responsible for having hung a huge Basque flag across the facade of City Hall which held up the opening of the Sanfermin fiestas by some twenty minutes.

7/6/2013

Check how the incident was related minute-by-minute at Sanfermin.com