Pamplona Packs Away the Red Scarves: San Fermin 2026 Closes with Two Gorings and Big Crowds

Verified key facts

• The 2026 San Fermin festival ran from 6 July to midnight on 14 July, with eight morning bull runs from 7 to 14 July.
• The Associated Press reported two Spaniards were gored in the final run on 14 July: an 18-year-old from Pamplona in the thigh and a 46-year-old in the thorax.
• Eight more runners needed treatment for lesser injuries in the final run, including an 86-year-old British man, Spain in English reported.
• Spain in English reported the festival closed with 57 recorded injuries across this year's event.
• Euronews reported the opening run on 7 July drew thousands of runners and ended without serious injuries.

Nine Days That Stop a City

At midnight on 14 July, thousands of people in white clothes and red scarves gathered before Pamplona's town hall, held candles aloft and sang 'Pobre de Mí'. With that mournful chorus, the 2026 San Fermin festival passed into history.

The nine-day fiesta, which began with the chupinazo rocket at noon on 6 July, once again transformed the small Navarrese capital into one of the world's most famous parties. Around 400 events filled the programme, from giants' parades to fireworks, according to festival organisers.

But as ever, the world watched for one thing: the encierro, the morning bull run immortalised by Ernest Hemingway a century ago.

A Final Run with Teeth

The eighth and last run, on Tuesday 14 July, proved the most dangerous of the week. The Associated Press reported that two Spaniards were gored as the festival concluded, the bulls covering the 875-metre course through the old town's cobbled streets.

An 18-year-old from Pamplona took a horn in the thigh at the first turn, where a bull ploughed into a group of scrambling runners, the AP reported. A 46-year-old man from central Spain was gored in the thorax on the final stretch, where the course narrows into the bullring.

Eight more runners needed medical attention for lesser injuries that morning, Spain in English reported. Among them was an 86-year-old British man, a detail that captured the festival's peculiar mix of danger and devotion across generations.

The Week by the Numbers

Taken as a whole, the 2026 edition ran close to historical form. Spain in English reported the festival closed with 57 recorded injuries across the eight runs, most of them bruises and cuts from falls rather than horn wounds.

• Eight bull runs held from 7 to 14 July, each starting at 8am sharp.
• The opening encierro on 7 July ended with no serious injuries, Euronews reported.
• Two runners were gored on the final day, per the Associated Press.
• 57 injuries were recorded over the festival, Spain in English reported.
• Local coverage described strong, heavy participation throughout the week.

Since record-keeping began in 1910, 16 people have died in the Pamplona runs, the most recent in 2009. That no life was lost this year will be counted, by the city's grim arithmetic, as a good festival.

Tradition Under Scrutiny

San Fermin does not happen in a vacuum. Animal-rights groups again staged their customary protests around the festival, arguing that the runs and the evening bullfights that follow have no place in modern Europe. The bulls that run each morning are killed in the ring that afternoon.

Defenders counter that the fiesta is a centuries-old religious and cultural celebration, honouring Navarre's patron saint since medieval times, and an economic lifeline that fills Pamplona's hotels, bars and restaurants for nine days. The debate resurfaces every July, and every July the crowds keep growing.

If You Are Tempted to Run

The encierro is free and open to any sober adult, which is precisely what makes it dangerous. Veterans advise newcomers to study the course beforehand, choose one short section rather than trying to run it all, and never touch the animals.

Falling runners are told to stay down and cover their heads until the herd passes. Most injuries come from pile-ups and trampling, not horns. Spectators, for their part, need to claim a spot along the wooden fences well before 8am, or book a balcony months in advance.

Until the Sixth of July

Pamplona now begins its long, quiet countdown. The barriers come down, the streets are scrubbed, and the city of some 200,000 returns to its unhurried northern rhythm until next summer.

The 2027 festival will run, as always, from 6 to 14 July. The song sung at the closing ceremony translates as 'poor me, the fiesta of San Fermin has ended'. Its final line, locals like to point out, matters more: there are fewer days left until it begins again.

Sources

• Associated Press via WRAL - 2 Spaniards gored as the San Fermin bull run festival concludes (14 July 2026)
• Spain in English - 86-year-old Briton among injured as San Fermin bull-running festival draws to a close (15 July 2026)
• Euronews - San Fermin festival begins with Pamplona's famous bull run (7 July 2026)
• CP24 - 2 Spaniards gored as the San Fermin bull run festival concludes (14 July 2026)