The eighth and final bull run of Spain's renowned San Fermín festival concluded on Tuesday with ten men sustaining injuries, bringing the total number of participants hurt during this year's fiesta to 57. According to a statement from the Navarre regional government, an 18-year-old man was treated for a gore wound to the thigh, while a 46-year-old man suffered a gore wound to the chest. The remaining eight individuals were hospitalized with varying degrees of bruising.
During the final run, the pack of bulls completed the 848.6-metre course from the holding pen to the city bull ring in two minutes and 25 seconds. For eight consecutive mornings, hundreds of participants, many dressed in the traditional attire of white shirts and red scarves, navigated the narrow, winding streets of the medieval city alongside the animals. While the vast majority of runners are men, the event attracts visitors from across the globe.
Of the 57 people injured throughout the festival, five are foreign nationals, including two Britons, one Australian, one American, and a German who was gored in his left arm. Among the total injuries throughout the week, four men were gored, including a 30-year-old Spanish man who suffered a horn piercing to his face. The bulls involved in the runs typically face death in afternoon bullfights featuring professional matadors.
The San Fermín festival, popularized globally by Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises," has seen 16 deaths since record-keeping began in 1911. The most recent fatality occurred in 2009, when a 27-year-old Spaniard was gored in the neck, heart, and lungs. Although the daily runs have now concluded, the festival is scheduled to hold its official closing ceremony at midnight.
The bulls completed the 848.6-metre (928-yard) course from a holding pen to the city bull ring in two minutes and 25 seconds.
