It is complicated to count the number of people who run the enclosures of San Fermín, which are held until Sunday in Pamplona. But it is estimated that they do it between 2,000, one normal day, and 3,500, over the weekend. It is a high number, especially if one takes into account that the route barely measures 848.6 meters and that, within it, six bulls and many other horses (they are divided into two groups and the second performs the route shortly after if it was necessary to guide some ramcolgado) run at an average speed of 24 km/hour. The risk of being injured, or even dies, is high. In fact, 16 people have lost their lives during a confinement, according to historical data. To minimize that danger, numerous preventive measures have been adopted and often unknown.
There are those who bet on reducing the number of participants to minimize the danger of the race. This is very difficult to achieve because it is an event open to the public. So some 120 agents of the Municipal Police of Pamplona and around 60 of the Foral Police – many of them are already located inside the bullring – monitor that the participants comply with the ordinance. To do this, all the accesses are controlled and there are agents stationed every few meters of the fence to ensure that people who do not meet the minimum requirements do not access the route.
They are “common sense” conditions, they point out from the Foral Police. “People with symptoms of drunkenness or having consumed substances are expelled them, but you can find many kind casuistics: people with cameras, with flip flops, a woman with heels, for example.” Nor is it allowed to carry backpacks or bags and the participation of minors is prohibited. Given the enormous influx of people, the agents perform several “cleaning”: all those who are waiting at the beginning of the tour between the City Council and the bullring are forced to leave it. If you want to run, you must go to the area delimited for it: “From the town hall square down, to Santo Domingo.”
There are sections where it is easier to detect them. Once they do, the sanction is managed. There are three sections: mild (up to 600 euros), serious (between 601 and 6,000) and very serious (between 6,0001 and 60,000 euros). A slight sanction can be, for example, to overcome the police barrier at the beginning of the race, perch on a balcony or gutter or throw firecrackers. As serious, recording with mobiles or other devices is considered, hindering the race, touching animals or running towards them. “If you stop to record, they can collide with you and put the runners in danger.” And, although it seems a lie, the ordinance has had to collect as a very serious offense the use of scooters or skates inside the route. Social networks also help, they count from Police Foral: “A person was denounced that every day he left the portal to film. Thanks to the fact that an Instagram video arrived, we knew where he was and who he was … he was expected from the countryman and in the confinement of that same day he was identified and denounced him”.
It is not easy to ensure that all runners comply with the standards, assert from the Pamplona Municipal Police. That is, if someone carries a camera before the start of the race, it can be expelled. However, it is impossible to do with animals outside the pens. Surveillance is done on-site And, in addition, there are agents watching cameras. “They already have three or four localized people who hug the bull. It seems that they have repeated a couple of days and we will try to locate and denounce them,” the agents explain. The goal is to do it before the rocket that marks the beginning of the confinement is sounding because, when it ends, “it is almost impossible because there are a lot of people in the street.”
Other measures
From the Consistory they also perform other actions. For example, they apply an non -slip liquid in some parts of the route to prevent bulls from slipping and hurting and, above all, so that they do not separate from the herd (as happened last day 8) and create situations of danger. It is an action that has been carried out for two decades. In total, the Consistory uses 1,500 liters of this product in approximately 1,875 square meters (final section of the slope of Santo Domingo, Consistorial Square, Mercaderes Street and Start of Estafeta Street). This compound produces a “suction effect”, which facilitates the grip of the animal’s hooves to the asphalt. Likewise, every morning a deep cleaning is performed, after which it is forbidden to take glass or garbage to both the streets that cross it transversely.
By the way, this year, the Municipal Police of Pamplona has asked the Airport Authority that restricts the authorizations for the flight of hot air balloons during the enclosures – among 7.30 and 8.45 – to prevent them from interfering with security systems.
Women could not participate in the confinement until 1975 because the municipal side that prohibited it was not repealed – made in 1867 – until a year earlier. However, it is costing them to participate. Today, it is estimated that only 6% are girls. Of course, says Domeño, in recent years there is a remarkable increase that is very difficult to quantify because “there is no camera that distinguishes between men and women.”