The bullfight

The bullfight is different in Pamplona. lt has very little to do with those held elsewhere in Spain.

The part of the bullring ('Sol') where the sun shines in the afternoon is where the Peñas go. lt is a real boiling-pot of noise and colour which is highly contagious. The spectacle has begun. lf the bullfighter performs well, nobody misses a thing and will cheer the bullfighter, especially if he is brave. lf things go wrong, however, any pretext (however ridiculous ¡t may seem to the neutral spectator) is enough for the rowdy spectators in Sol to organise a parallel fiesta alongside the one going on in the ring.

Nevertheless, don't think that the young men of the Peñas ignore the bull-bullfighter confrontation. They shout, jeer or simply scorn with their indifference at a bullfighter who doesn't come up to scratch. They will put the one who does well on a pedestal. Pity the bullfighter who is successful! The numerous presents (no imagination could conceive of them beforehand) given the bullfighter during the walk around the ring and the exit on the shoulders of the fans will finish off the bravery that the bull couldn't.

lf you really want to see the bullfight, you have to go to 'Sombra' (the shady part of the bullring). lf you want to live out more special moments of the Sanfermines, though, Sol is the place. Even Superman becomes real and 'flies' across the terraces to the rhythm of the brass bands, directed by hands which write invisible words on a never-ending roll of paper.