Three American runners injured in the first Encierro of the Sanfermines

USPA NEWS - Three American runners were injured this Friday in the first Encierro in Pamplona. On the big day of the festivities, San Fermín went out in a procession surrounded by thousands of people from Pamplona who waited on both sides of the street for the entire route of the procession. Pamplona is a hive of people who fill the streets, bars and areas where music groups liven up the festivities, children can play and everyone can taste dishes of Spanish gastronomy.

The first Encierro of the Sanfermines 2023 resulted in six injured runners, three of them from the United States. A 27-year-old man of American origin, whose initials are M.M.O., suffered a fractured kneecap when he fell at the end of Estafeta street, the longest and straightest of those that make up the Encierro route. As reported to USPA News by health sources, the young American required surgery. Another American, this one 41 years old and initials V.M.O., suffered an open wrist fracture. And a third American, from the American military base in Kaiserlautern (Germany), suffered a trauma with a reserved prognosis.

Three other Spanish runners were injured, all of them with bruises. The Encierro, with bulls from the La Palmosilla ranch, was clean, with no injuries from any of the horns. This first Encierro had a massive participation of runners and an unprecedented deployment of Police and health services. 2,500 agents from the National Police, the Local Police and the Provincial Police ensure the safety of the festivities. There was a lot of desire for Sanfermines and the people of Pamplona, but also the many visitors who fill the city these days, respond en masse to the events scheduled on the patron saint's day.

As every July 7, the festivity of San Fermín, the patron saint of Pamplona went out in a procession accompanied by the local authorities, the numerous brotherhoods from all over Navarra and music bands. Thousands of people from Pamplona and visitors crowded along the route, applauding as the image of the saint passed by. The procession toured the main streets of the historic center of Pamplona.

But the Sanfermines are also an occasion to eat and drink. The bars in the center of Pamplona fill up with locals and visitors, despite the high prices with which the Pamplona hospitality sector hopes to recover part of the profits lost during the last pandemic and the slow economic recovery. The prices increase exaggeratedly in the bars located in the streets of the Encierro. And the streets reflect this fondness for food and drink: the rubbish piles up in the streets in the hours before the Encierro, without the cleaning services being able to avoid it.