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Pasaporte a Sanfermin con Passport Scotch

Today we revive a curious commercial which was published in The USA in 1972 for the whiskey distillery Passport Scotch and which used the running of the bulls as the catch-line. The slogan in its publicity campaign played with the brand name of the whisky, (Passport Scotch) by inviting people to use it like a passport to different adventures and situations such as travelling on a balloon or taking a trip on a gondola as well as taking part in a running of the bulls. In this case, the drink is the Passport that allows you escape from the bulls. There is no direct reference made to Pamplona, as the location looks more like a small town but the word play with the “Running of the bulls (Encierro)” from Pamplona in Sanfermin is clearly the catch-line.

The illustration allows all those who are carrying a bottle of password whisky to be saved and even if you don’t come with any baggage you mustn’t forget your “passport” which is, of course, the whisky bottle from this trademark. In addition, the announcement informs us that we will be welcome anywhere in the world if we carry a bottle of Passport Scotch. This type of commercial could not be currently exploited and it would also most probably cause a scandal on the social networks… but as you can see, there was a time when it seemed a normal type of advertisement and this is how we now tell it to you.

Sustos, toros a la fuga y buenas corrridas en la Feria del Toro 2013

The Sanfermin 2013 Bullfighting week provided some curious moments in addition to the classic situations of opening the main gate for the successful toreros and the number of ears that they were awarded. Now that the week has come to an end, it might be useful to take a general look back at the events of the bullfighting week.

The week had begun on the 5th of July with the novillada (young bulls). The young bullfighter, Posadas Maravillas was awarded two ears and was carried shoulder-high through the main gate for his good work. On the following day, the 6th of July two of the three horse-riding toreros – Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza and Sergio Galán – were also carried shoulder high after receiving two ears each amid great applause from the public.

On the 7th, the first day of classic bullfighting,  the Alcurrucén bulls featured in a particularly insipid afternoon of bullfighting which perhaps had its only highlight in the fact that one of the banderilleros – the bullfighter’s deputies – got a jab of the horn to his scalp. On the 8th,  Manuel Escribano was awarded one ear against the Dolores Aguirre bulls, and displayed some decent fighting before the large crowd. But again, perhaps the most interesting anecdote occurred when the sixth bull jumped over the protection fencing and created panic among those in the passageway, including the Government representative in Navarra, who had to scurry away in search of a protection shelter. Apparently, she will be fined for breaking the rules by being present in the passageway area.

On the 9th, the bullfighter  David Mora stood out in another largely insipid bullfighting afternoon, with bulls from the Valdefresno bull-ranch.  He was award one ear while the rest came away empty-handed.  The 10th was expected to be the height of the week’s bullfighting with such bullfighter figures as Morante, El Juli and Talavante. All of them left empty-handed in a bland afternoon where neither bulls nor toreros could shine.

Finally, on the 11th there was a satisfactory bullfighting afternoon. David Mora was awarded two ears.  Francisco Mora got one and Iván Fandiño suffered a hair-raising tossing.

On both the 12th and the 13th the protagonist was the popular torero,  Juan José Padilla. Although he left empty-handed after the first day’s fighting, he showed on the following day that he is  special bullfighter in the Pamplona bullring and he was awarded two ears.  Finally, on the 14th , the last day of the Feria del Toro de Pamplona 2013 the bullfights featured the Miura bulls and here, Jímenez Forte came away with one ear.

This year the award for the best bull-ranch  went to the Dolores Aguirre bull-breed that had fought on the 8th of July. The Carriquiri award for the best bull went to Heroína, nº 111 from the Fuente Ymbro bull-ranch and it was fought on the 13th of July by Padilla.

 

SEE ALL THE CHRONICLES OF THE 2013 BULLFIGHTS

 

Protesta de PETA contra el maltrato a los toros en Sanfermin

The PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) Association, once again have made their traditional protest against animal abuse on the eve of the start of the Sanfermin fiestas. An ample group of activists from the organization gathered in front of Pamplona City Hall dressed up in horns and faking to be laid out in black coffins. They carried some paper placards displaying slogans such as “Bulls find a bloody death in Pamplona”. The event caused a large crowd of onlookers to gather as well as attracting the attention of the local media.

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Kukuxumusu y Miguel Indurain colaboran en el diseño de una camiseta para la salida de la Vuelta

BUY THE TEE SHIRT

The Kukuxumusu Drawing Factory and Miguel Indurain have come together in order to design a tee shirt for the opening of the Vuelta de España cycling race, which this year starts off in Pamplona. The national cycling race will start next 18th August and the final stretch of the first stage will take place along the course of the running of the bulls.

The drawing shows a rather curious cycling-style “running of the bulls” along Estafeta Street in Pamplona, and through which the cyclists will pass at the start of the race this year. The drawing shows Indurain leading the field of riders dressed with a cycling top with no.1 on it as he competes against a squad of “bull-cyclists” who charge at all the runners who dare to run in front of them.

The Navarra cyclist, who won the Tour five times in a row, and who is also the winner of 2 Giro in Italia, wished to play his part in this Project, giving his opinion about the design of the garment and the creation of the drawing. He also provided the slogan or phrase to accompany the drawing made by Kukuxumusu; “Giving people a thrill is the nicest thing about leading the field”.

The tee shirt comes in a red color and it is now available at all official Kukuxumusu stores in unisex models as well as in ladies and kids sizes, at a price of 19, 50 euro for the adult size and 14 euro for children’s sizes.

Los números de Sanfermin 2012

With the Sanfermin fiestas now at an end, Pamplona City Hall has just made their evaluation of the festival. It was very similar to last year in terms of numbers with a very similar number of hotel bookings, number of participants and in the number of incidents. The mayor, Enrique Maya, has just held a press conference to provide some official figures and to sum up Sanfermin 2012.

Among the data offered by Mr. Maya, was a figure of 85%, for hotels and boarding-houses while the first weekend this figure was just about 100%. On the other hand, the second weekend showed 25% less occupation.

With regard to the Running of the Bulls, city hall numbered the runners as 4, 200 on Sunday, 8th while on the final day of the runnings, the number dropped to 1, 900.

It is worth pointing out that the most important festival music spot for the large number of attendance was now the at la plaza de los Fueros, which had a total of 93,500 people, 38% higher than last year. In second place was the plaza Del Castillo, with 87, 500. The most-watched event of all was the nightly fireworks event with an estimated total attendance of 819.000 spectators.

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Police complaints and reports figures are very similar to previous years. There are some curious figures, such as 1.951 formal complaints made (3% less than in 2011). Some 1.163 were for larceny and theft; 202 for robberies and 293 for fights and scuffles. In total, a figure of 203 people were arrested. The figure for the garbage collection was around the million kilo mark, very similar to last year.

Besides the fact and figures, the mayor also lamented the suspension of the Riau-Riau, “a blow to the wishes of the people”, and he acknowledged that this event would have to be given a lot of thought over the coming year.

See all the numbers