Controversial bull hunt started in Pamplona: Five runners injured - 25-year-old suffers skull contusion

Created: 07/07/2022 10:22 am

By: Jennifer Lanzinger

Spain, Pamplona: People dressed in white with red scarves run with the animals at the "Sanfermines" festival at the bull hunt.

© Eduardo Sanz/EUROPA PRESS/dpa +++ dpa picture radio +++

It often causes criticism: the controversial bull hunt in Pamplona.

Now there are five injured again, a 25-year-old suffered a contusion of the skull while fleeing from the bulls.

Pamplona - It is a tradition that causes criticism in many places: the controversial bull hunt in Pamplona.

At least five runners have been injured at this year's "Sanfermines" festival in Pamplona in northern Spain.

A young man suffered a bruised skull while chasing a bull.

As the dpa reports, citing the organizers of the event, five runners were injured in the first bull hunt of this year's festival.

However, there were no injuries from horn blasts.

As the organizers continue to report, all five injured are young men who were taken to the hospital with bruises and contusions.

A 25-year-old suffered a bruised skull in a fall.

Controversial bull hunt started in Pamplona: Five runners injured - 25-year-old suffers skull contusion

The festival in honor of the city saint San Fermín will take place again for the first time since 2019.

It was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

There will be a total of eight running of the bulls through next Thursday.

Every day in the early morning, six fighting bulls, some of which weigh more than 600 kilograms, and several tame lead oxen are hunted through the narrow streets of the old town for the bullfights in the evening into the arena.

Dozens of runners are injured every year in the courage tests of the predominantly young men over the 825-meter-long route.

There have been 16 deaths since 1924, the last in 2009.

This year, animal welfare groups protested against the traditional event, which has been taking place since 1591 but has since become controversial in Spain.

Despite all the criticism, the festival attracts countless tourists from all over the world, especially from Europe, the USA and Australia.

The US author Ernest Hemingway wrote about Pamplona in his novel "Fiesta" (1926).

Meanwhile, Spain is also struggling with the weather: Forest fires in Greece, empty reservoirs in Spain, drought emergency in Italy: Europe's holiday regions are struggling with heat and drought.

Researchers warn that it will only get worse in the future.