Photography: Pablo Lasaosa
The second Running of the bulls of this year’s Sanfermines featuring the Cebada Gago bull-ranch was a highly dramatic one. The bulls early on became separated and five of the bulls were running loose from Mercaderes until the bull ring. From then on, there were several moments of high tension and anxiety and at least seven gorings were received by runners. There were also various injuries from falls and bruises.
The first goring occurred in Santo Domingo, almost as soon as the bulls came out of the pens. There two more gorings in Mercaderes and the corner of Estafeta while two more occurred along Estafeta and at the stretch.
The uproar was such that three of the bulls came to a complete halt at the top of Estafeta street. One of them began to turn back and run down in the opposite direction for some 300 meters while the other two made several charges at the runners. As the bulls were loose, it was easy for some of the runners to get close to the horns and display some fine running. Thanks to some fine work by some of the runners the bulls were also eventually lead into the bull ring after a run that lasted almost six minutes.
The bulls had come out in a tight pack from the pens in Santo Domingo. But at the Mercaderes stretch the pack broke up and separated and the bulls arrived loose and separately to Estafeta, except for one grey bull which remained close to the bull-oxen all the way. The loose bulls generated a lot of dangerous until they were finally lead into the bull ring and the safety of the pens.