5 days until San Fermín 2026.
Encierro tracks Pamplona’s running of the bulls year round because our own guides run it every July, not just study it from a distance. This roundup covers what changed in the city this week: official safety planning, encierro culture, and the small human stories building toward July 6. Details like these are exactly what matters to anyone actually planning to be on the route, and it is why we cover encierro news july 2026 as it happens rather than after the fact.
Pamplona Finalizes Its Security Plan for San Fermín, With Paseo Sarasate Reopening
Ayuntamiento de Pamplona (official), July 1, 2026
Mayor Joseba Asirón chaired the first meeting of the Junta Local de Protección Civil this morning, laying out the General Plan for San Fermín: security, police and health deployment, traffic restrictions, and post fiesta cleanup. The board will meet daily from July 8 to 14 to evaluate the plan and correct problems as they come up. The most notable detail for anyone tracking the Casco Viejo: Paseo Sarasate, mid construction since the start of the year, will reopen almost in full for pedestrian traffic during the festival, with temporary paving covering everything except the central platform and south roadway between the Parlamento de Navarra and Calle del Vínculo. Work resumes after the fiesta. The plan also details the security setup for the Txupinazo Txiki, a children’s version of the opening rocket launch, to be held for the first time on July 10.
Read the original announcement
The Two Pamplona Health Workers Who Will Light the 2026 Chupinazo
Orain (EITB) and Diario de Navarra, July 1, 2026
The two people who will launch the July 6 chupinazo (the rocket that opens San Fermín each year) are Clint Jean Louis Fernández, subdirector of Navarra’s Emergency Services, and Araceli Sergio Aguilera, a nurse with the mobile emergency unit in Tafalla. Pamplona voters chose the Emergency Services staff, roughly 300 people, to have the honor two weeks ago; the two individuals were picked in an internal staff vote that came down to 38 votes to 37. Fernández, who has directed the subdirección since 2023 and has lived in Pamplona since arriving from Kenya in 1992, called it “un reconocimiento del trabajo que hacen en Sanfermines, pero también el resto del año” (a recognition of the work they do during San Fermín, but also the rest of the year).
Read the original article (Orain) | Diario de Navarra
Miguel González Wins This Year’s Encierro Photography Contest
Diario de Navarra, July 1, 2026
The Oficina Internacional de Prensa judged the 14th Concurso Internacional de Fotografía del Encierro on Wednesday. Miguel González took first prize (1,000 euros) for a photo shot at Mercaderes; Sergio Gago took second (500 euros) for a shot from Estafeta; Marta Roca won the Special Jury Prize for an image from the Plaza de Toros, the route’s finish point. Thirty three photographers entered 91 photos across the ten stretches the contest divides the route into. The trophy is built from a retired section of vallado, the wooden barrier fencing that lines the encierro route. Awards are presented July 11 at the Hotel Maisonnave.
Casco Antiguo and Ensanches Residents Get Reduced Rate Parking During San Fermín
Diario de Navarra, July 1, 2026
The Ayuntamiento de Pamplona and Telpark have renewed their parking agreement, opening 200 subscription spaces with round the clock access at the Hospitales parking structure. The program targets residents registered in the Casco Antiguo and the Ensanches, the two zones with the heaviest vehicle density during the festival, and runs the full month of July for a flat 10 euro fee. The goal is straightforward: free up street parking in the Old Town while the fiesta is on.
The Corrales del Gas Open to the Public This Wednesday
Diario de Navarra, July 1, 2026
The Corrales del Gas, the holding pens where the encierro bulls wait before their run, open to public viewing this Wednesday afternoon. The Casa de Misericordia says four ganaderías (bull breeding ranches) currently have animals on display, a number expected to grow through the week. Visiting hours run 11:00 to 13:30 and 16:30 to 20:30, though veterinary exams or new arrivals can shift the schedule. Tickets are 4 euros for adults, sold only at the gate with no advance sales, and free for children under 12 with an adult.
Encierro Route Gets Its Anti-Slip Treatment for the 20th Year
Pamplona Actual, July 1, 2026
Starting Thursday night at 23:00, crews from Pavitec will apply the anti-slip compound used on the route since 2006, this year marking its 20th application. About 1,500 liters go down by hand with watering cans and brushes, covering roughly 1,875 square meters from the final stretch of Santo Domingo through La Curva (the sharp turn from Mercaderes onto Estafeta) and into Estafeta itself, plus the corral exit where the herd first hits the street. The compound opens microscopic pores in the paving’s silica that get sealed over the year by dirt and cleaning machinery, creating a suction effect that helps hooves grip, especially on wet stone. The treatment has only been skipped twice since 2006: 2020 and 2021, when the pandemic canceled the fiesta.
From the Archive
The chupinazo is the first of many cohetes (rockets that mark each stage of the run) runners listen for during the encierro itself, and the ganaderías on display at the Corrales del Gas this week are part of the same selection process we broke down in our look at the bull ranches chosen for San Fermín 2026.
Compiled by the Encierro editorial team. encierro.com tracks Pamplona’s encierro, its city, and its fiesta year-round, with instruction from active bull runners who have run San Fermín for decades.