Revelers gather for the start of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, ​​Spain on July 6, 2022. Vincent West/Reuters Light rain did nothing to dampen the spirits of a sea of ​​people packing the northern city’s Townhall Square, their clothes already soaked in the red wine and sangria that flow freely during the eight-day festival, made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun Also Rises.” The annual event was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to coronavirus restrictions. Animal rights groups want it banned outright. “I have been to San Fermín many times but this is very different, people have missed the celebration, they are happy to be with their families, happy to be without masks, they just want to feel alive and enjoy the sun. said Michelle Rene, 45, of San Francisco. Revelers enjoy the atmosphere on the opening day of the 2022 festival.
Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images Added Pablo Cortes, a tourist from Hawaii who, like Rene, was watching the opening ceremony of “Chupinazo” from a balcony: “The energy is awesome — this is the best party, the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life. “ Many participants drink and dance the night away. The runs, in which six fighting bulls chase runners through the narrow streets of Pamplona’s Old Quarter over a stretch of 800 meters (half a mile), will begin on Thursday and continue for a week, including the weekend, when it is usually the most dangerous due to the larger crowd. Thousands gathered to kick off the festival, which has been canceled two years in a row due to the pandemic. Ander Gillenea/AFP/Getty Images There are eight runs in total and each usually lasts between three and five minutes. They end up in the bullring, where the animals are gathered before reappearing in the evening bullfight, when they are killed. Dozens of animal rights activists wearing dinosaur costumes demonstrated in Pamplona on Tuesday, chanting “Bullfighting is prehistoric!” The festival is also dangerous for humans. At least 16 runners have died over the years, with the most recent victim being a man mauled to death by a bull in 2009.