Sanfermines in the suburbs

The Sanfermines has a kind of natu ral boundary in terms of where ¡t is celebrated which keeps almost exactly to the limits of the old town. But, because the city has grown, the festival has spread considerably to other districts and streets. 

As a result, there is another way of celebrating the festival with the continuous programme of events organizad by the "Cal¡" in Amaya street, in the Ensanche, where there is non-stop music in the form of amateur street bands, which sometimes feature well- known local personalities, and children are thrilled to see the fleeting figure of a bull of fire which races down the street at dusk as calm begins to descend after the bustle of another day of los Sanfermines. And everything culminates in a celebration of the pobre de mí which multiplies the illuminations and divides peoples' feelings between expectation and happiness.

Also in the Ensanche, in Leyre street, the gastronomic hostelries take over the street and turn the asphalt into the welcoming floor of the best restaurant. lt is there that dishes are lavishly laid out; lamb's offal, lean slices of meat with a tomato sauce, bull stew, and lamb in a red-pepper casserole, strong dishes which, washed down with a chilled rosé break up the mornings of los Sanfermines and fuel the motor of the festival, because lethargy isn't accepted here and the contribution of calories always leads to a substancial feeding of the mechanism for happiness.

Obviously the ever-increasing number of gastronomic societies which are spread around the old Iruña are not left behind when ¡t comes to generous gatherings of food and drink, and if any day during the quiet year is good for enjoying a delicious meal... so, what can be said of the days and nights of the Sanfermines! Then, the huge steaks, the hake casserole, lamb's hocks, fruits stewed in a wine sauce, strawberries and cream multiply to fill the greedy mouths of those enjoying the fiestas at a heavily laden table, at an extravagant table which is at the root of the strange mystery of how bodies can put up with such unequalled punishment. Los Sanfermines, then,spread naturally throughout all the districts and streets of Pamplona and during this period there isn't a square inch of the city where the festival isn't celebrated in some fonn or another, a festival which comes from the pecople and in thern finds its best moments. Not in vain do the ordinary people find a role which, by and large is denied them during the rest of the year. A leading role in which the sovereign people rise to become the true aristocracy of l¡fe. The victory of happiness over the mundane reality of routine.