In the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, the Sanfermines began today, 6 July 2026 — one of the most famous, international and controversial popular festivals in the world. At exactly midday, the traditional Chupinazo rocket was launched from the balcony of the town hall, marking the official start of nine days of celebrations.
Spain Expat Press
by Marlon Gallego Bosbach
Thousands of people had gathered hours before the event on Plaza Consistorial and in the surrounding streets of the old town. As the rocket was fired, the city centre erupted in celebration — with champagne, water sprays and the unmistakable sea of red and white worn by the revellers.
The Sanfermines are today regarded as one of Spain’s most international festivals — and also one of its most controversial. The event achieved global fame in large part thanks to Ernest Hemingway, who visited Pamplona several times and drew on his experiences there for one of his best-known novels: Fiesta, published in English as The Sun Also Rises. The book, still read in many schools and universities in the United States, helped make the Sanfermines internationally famous and shaped the image of Pamplona as a city of excess, tradition and literary myth.
Yet Hemingway was not the only prominent admirer of the Sanfermines. The legendary film-maker Orson Welles was also drawn to Pamplona, Spain and the world of bullfighting. He visited the city several times and made the historic Hotel La Perla something of a base during his stays. Over the decades, other international figures have also been linked to the festival, including Ava Gardner, Charlton Heston, Arthur Miller, Audrey Hepburn, Sean Connery and Spike Lee. The Sanfermines thus became not only a Spanish popular festival, but a cultural myth that attracted literature, cinema and international celebrity alike.
For many, the Sanfermines also represent a Spain without much pretence: welcoming, raw, direct and almost mystical. Unlike some other festivals, the focus here is less on who looks the most elegant, who presents the finest horse or who stages themselves best. In Pamplona, the celebration is more about friendship, community and life itself — unfiltered, loud, intense and full of contradictions. That is part of its fascination: the Sanfermines do not present Spain as a perfect backdrop, but as a living experience shaped by closeness, risk, tradition and joy.
The Start of a Major Event with Global Appeal
With the Chupinazo, the Sanfermines officially enter their main phase. The festival attracts visitors from all over the world every year and is considered one of Spain’s largest and best-known popular celebrations. For several days, Pamplona is transformed into a densely packed festival zone filled with music, parades and traditional events.
The best-known events are the daily encierros, the bull runs through the narrow streets of the old town, which take place early each morning and are followed by media around the world. They are also the most famous and most controversial part of the festival: for many, they are inseparable from tradition; for others, they represent an outdated idea of risk, masculinity and animal suffering.
Gora Iruñea! Gora Nafarroa! Gora San Fermin! Gora gu elkartu gintuen hiria!
— Paula 🇪🇭 (@PaulaMorenobis) July 6, 2026
Heat and Pressure from Large Crowds
This year’s opening takes place under hot summer conditions. Temperatures of around 30 degrees were recorded in Pamplona, while the perceived heat in the crowded city centre was considerably higher. Authorities have warned of heat-related problems and recommend drinking enough water and avoiding direct exposure to the sun where possible.
During the Chupinazo in particular, extremely high visitor numbers in a very confined space traditionally create additional challenges for security and organisation.
Programme Until 14 July
The Sanfermines will continue until 14 July and include hundreds of individual events. Alongside the bull runs, the programme features daily bullfights, street parades with traditional figures, concerts and numerous cultural and religious events.
The first official encierro takes place on the morning of 7 July and is one of the most internationally recognised moments of the entire festival.
A Festival of Tradition and Global Attention
The Sanfermines are deeply rooted in regional tradition, but have long since become a global event. Every year, hundreds of thousands of visitors travel to Pamplona, while millions follow the events through the media and livestreams.
The Chupinazo remains the festival’s most symbolic moment: a single explosion that throws an entire city into a state of celebration, tradition and international attention.
For that very reason, the Sanfermines are more than just a popular festival. They are a mirror of Spain itself: passionate, contradictory, welcoming, raw, mystical, hungry for life — and repeatedly forced to question itself anew.
Ten Years After “La Manada”: A Dark Turning Point
But the Sanfermines are not only about tradition, excess and international fascination. This year also marks the tenth anniversary of one of the darkest moments in recent Spanish social history: the “La Manada” case. The gang rape of a young woman during the Sanfermines in 2016 deeply shook Spain and triggered an unprecedented national debate about sexual violence, power, silence and consent.
The case became a turning point. Outrage over the initial legal assessment and the public debate that followed created a new awareness in Spain around the meaning of consent. The collective cry “No es abuso, es violación” — “It is not abuse, it is rape” — came to define a generation of protests and ultimately contributed to a fundamental change in Spanish sexual criminal law: away from the principle of “No means no” and towards the principle of “Only yes means yes”, known in Spain as the “solo sí es sí” law.
Today, the Sanfermines carry this double meaning. They remain one of Europe’s most powerful, international and vibrant popular festivals. At the same time, they are a reminder that tradition and freedom can only endure when safety, respect and consent apply to everyone.
