Not long to go ...
Not long to go ...
© Jim Hollander. Estalla la fiesta y Marea roja son las frases más utilizadas para describir el Txupinazo.
© Tino Soriano. Txupinazo de 2006, no hay toros en el inicio de la fiesta pero sí cuernos.
If you want to see the spectacle then the best place would be from any one of the many balconies of private houses which surround the square. But of course that means getting an invite from of the owners. Not very likely nor is it possible to rent a balcony. The square is so crammed that it might be better just to go along to one of the surrounding streets where you can feel the atmosphere of the whole thing. Or you can just do the same as many of the locals do, and watch it from the T.V. in some bar or other.
Inside the square
If you want to get right in there among the packed crowd it means getting there an hour before and pushing your way in among the packed crowd. To experience the whole spectacle in this way is unique of course, but remember that you won't be able to move a muscle in the tight space. It will also very likely be teeming hot even if the heat is only coming from the milling crowd of sweating drinking singing bodies crammed together. Some young people make a very disgusting mixings: quetchup, cacao, mustard, flour,saving foam, etc. The whole thing can be so suffocating that people from the balconies often pour buckets of water over the crammed crowd to give them some relief. There can sometimes be waves of bodies pushed forward and some people can fall to the ground among the avalance of people. When it's all over the departing crowd often look like they have just come out of an old washing machine what with all the water, champagne and sweating.
There are always some first-aid posts to attend to those who have fainted or bruised themselves, though it has never gotten more serious than something like that.
