The Sanfermin fiestas are celebrated every year in Pamplona from the 6th to the 14th of July. On the 6th, at midday, the opening txupinazo rocket is set off from the balcony of City Hall to announce the commencement of the fiestas. From that moment on, the partying will continue non-stop until the 14th at midnight.
Pamplona, a city of some 200,000 people, is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, just some 80 kilometres from the Pyrenees and the Spanish-French frontier. The city lies about 400 kilometres to the north of Madrid, and is found close to some other large cities, viz; Bilbao, Zaragoza, Donostia/San Sebastian and Vitoria/Gasteiz.
Pamplona has an airport with daily flights from Madrid and Barcelona. Bilbao, Zaragoza and Vitoria all receive international flight connections and these cities have good road transport connections with Pamplona. There are also good communication links with Madrid and Barcelona by train and coach services. It would be a good idea during these dates to purchase round tickets. For more details, see the section in the Sanfermin.com guide, “How to get there”.
Pamplona avails of a wide range of accommodation offers during the Sanfermin fiestas. There are hotels, boarding houses, guesthouses, and there even exists the possibility of renting out some privately-owned apartments. (See advertisement site). Whatever option you choose, don’t leave it too late. Bookings should be made three or four months beforehand. The longer you wait the more difficult and costly it will be.
The fiestas are organized by Pamplona City Hall. They are responsible for the official program for Sanfermin fiestas, which is published around the end of June. However, other groups may also organize their own events, which run alongside the official events. The running of the bulls, the txupinazo opening rocket to launch the fiestas and the “Pobre de Mí” (Poor me) event to bring down the curtain on the fiestas are all organized by City Hall and they all form part of the official program.
The Pamplona Press Association sets up an International Press Office for the use of all the media professionals. This serves as an information support center for all the journalists who visit Pamplona during Sanfermin. During the fiestas, it has its office on the premises of The Tourist Office (Plaza de San Francisco). You can contact them at oip@prensapamplona.com
The Running of the bulls is run each morning from the 7th to the 14 th inclusive, at 8.00 in the morning. There is no need to register anywhere to run with the bulls or to watch it. But if you are a professional photographer from the media, and you wish to take photographs, you should get authorization in City Hall some weeks before the fiestas begin. (s.prensa@pamplona.es). On the days of the running of the bulls, it is necessary to get up early and find a good place because there are not many good spots and the bulls fly past.
If you wish to get more complete information on Sanfermin, you should consult the guide in sanfermin.com there you can find all you need to know about the fiestas before coming to Iruñea/Pamplona.
