The Encierro archive · 1908

Running of the Bulls 1908: San Fermín in Pamplona

San Fermín 1908 had five known run days, with the bull run (encierro) at six in the morning: July 7, 8, 9 and 10, then a break on Saturday, July 11, with no encierro, and a last run on Sunday, July 12, the day dedicated to the violinist Pablo Sarasate. Which herd would run that Sunday was decided by drawing lots.^{2, 3, 6, 7, 5, 9}

By Encierro · Last reviewed November 9, 2026

5known run days, July 7 to 12

0runs on July 11

6:00start, a.m.

How the fiesta ran in 1908

Each run began the night before. Around midnight the herdsmen woke the bulls with shouts and sticks and walked them from their quarters at the gas works and the Sario, “los sacan de sus hoteles del gas y del Sario”, to the small corral at the Rochapea gate, where they slept again by the river Arga, while villagers walked in toward Pamplona from every side.¹

The known run days were Tuesday, July 7, to Friday, July 10, and Sunday, July 12, each at six.^{2, 3, 6, 9} Saturday, July 11, had no encierro, and the paper noted that the churro stands were busier that morning because of it.⁷ The fiestas ended on Sunday, the 12th.⁷

Two ranches had bulls for Sunday, Jacinto Zalduendo of Caparroso and Manuela Lizaso, widow of Mata, of Pamplona, and only one herd could run. On July 9 lots were drawn, “para decidir cuál de las dos ganaderías ... ha de correr en el encierro del domingo”, and Lizaso won.⁵

Every known encierro of 1908, by day and ranch

The encierros of San Fermín 1908, from the Diario de Navarra programmes and reports.
Date	Run	Ranch (ganadería)	What the paper reported
July 7	1	Carriquiri, now Bernabé Cobaleda (programmed)	Programme: encierro at six
July 8	2	José Pereira Palha Blanco (programmed)	An outside paper said the bulls escaped; DN mocked it
July 9	3	Marqués de Guadalest (programmed)	Programme: encierro at six
July 10	4	Murube	The bulls “corrieron de firme”; one runner run over, unhurt
July 11	none		No encierro
July 12	5, last	Lizaso (by lot)	More runners than ever; no incidents

The 1908 encierros, day by day

Run 1, programmed

Tuesday, July 7, 1908 · Carriquiri (Bernabé Cobaleda)

Start6:00 a.m.

The programme for San Fermín’s day: “á las seis se hará el encierro de los carriquiris”.¹ The old Pamplona ranch of Carriquiri now belonged to Bernabé Cobaleda of Salamanca.¹¹

Run 2, programmed

Wednesday, July 8, 1908 · José Pereira Palha Blanco

Start6:00 a.m.

WarningA rocket

In the early hours of the morning the Palha bulls were to be moved from the corrals of the old gas works to the small corral of the Portal de Rochapea; “A las seis en punto se disparará el cohete de aviso” for their departure.² Afterwards an outside newspaper reported that the bulls had escaped during the encierro and roamed the streets until the herdsmen gathered them, and that it did not know whether there were casualties. The Diario de Navarra quoted it and answered: “Es una delicia esta información.”⁸

Run 3, programmed

Thursday, July 9, 1908 · Marqués de Guadalest

StatusProgrammed

The programme set the encierro of the Guadalest bulls³, from Seville.¹¹

Run 4

Friday, July 10, 1908 · Murube

Start6:00 a.m.

InjuriesNone

At six “salieron del corralillo del portal de Rochapea los bichos de Murube que corrieron de firme”: the Murube bulls ran hard, caught one of the young men in front and passed over him, without harm. Then, the paper adds, everyone went off to the churro stands.^{4, 6}

Run 5, the last

Sunday, July 12, 1908 · Lizaso

Start6:00 a.m.

IncidentsNone

Sunday was the day dedicated to Pablo Sarasate. Villagers poured into the city and by 4:30 in the morning the ring was full to the roof. At six the rocket went up and the Lizaso bulls left the small corral of the Rochapea gate. “Como último día, los corredores eran ... en mayor número que nunca”: being the last day, more runners than ever ran ahead of the bulls, with no incidents, and the bulls went straight into the toriles without stopping in the ring. Then almost the whole crowd moved on to the churro stands.⁹

San Fermín 1908 poster (cartel)

Artist: Javier Ciga (“Boceto de J. Ciga”)
Dated: Pamplona, June 20, 1908
Signed by: Daniel Irujo, mayor; Agapito Goñi, secretary
Printed by: Lit. E. Portabella

“¡El primer Ciga en carteles de San Fermín!”: Ollaquindía marks 1908 as the first San Fermín poster by Javier Ciga, the Pamplona painter. A young man with a guitar, a jota singer announcing the jota festival of July 11, raises a theatre curtain, and above the scene is a portrait of Pablo Sarasate.^{10, 11}

1908 was an important San Fermín for Sarasate: for the first time a day of the fiesta, July 12, was officially dedicated to him, and at a concert that day he received the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso XII. The day began, the programme said, with the “encierro del ganado en igual forma que en los días anteriores”.¹⁰

The poster names the ranches whose bulls came: the widow of Muruve and the Marqués de Guadalest of Seville, José Pereira Palha Blanco of Portugal, the heirs of the Conde de Espoz y Mina, now Bernabé Cobaleda of Salamanca, Manuela Lizaso, widow of Mata, of Pamplona, and Jacinto Zalduendo of Caparroso.¹¹

Pamplona in 1908

Visitors

842 in one day

On the day of the lottery, 842 travellers arrived in Pamplona by train, coach and car.⁵

Words of 1908

Hotels for bulls

The paper joked that the herdsmen took the bulls “de sus hoteles del gas y del Sario”, from their hotels at the gas works and the Sario. It used encierro for the run, corralillo for the small corral at the Rochapea gate, bichos for the bulls, and sorteo for the lottery that chose Sunday’s herd.^{1, 6, 5}

Photographs

Where to see old photographs

The city’s photo archive, the Fototeca de Pamplona, holds historic photographs of the encierro, free to view online.¹²

San Fermín 1908: questions and answers

When were the bull runs of San Fermín 1908?

The known run days of San Fermín 1908 were Tuesday, July 7, to Friday, July 10, and Sunday, July 12, 1908, each at six in the morning; there was no encierro on Saturday, July 11.^{2, 3, 6, 9, 7}

Was there an encierro on July 11, 1908?

San Fermín 1908 had no encierro on Saturday, July 11, and the Diario de Navarra noted that the churro stands were busier that morning because there was no encierro. The fiesta resumed on Sunday, July 12, with a last run on the day dedicated to Pablo Sarasate.⁷

How was the last herd of 1908 chosen?

The last herd of San Fermín 1908 was chosen by lottery: two ranches, Zalduendo and Lizaso, had bulls for Sunday, July 12, and on July 9, 1908 lots were drawn to decide which would run in the encierro. Lizaso won.⁵

What was Sarasate’s day at San Fermín 1908?

July 12, 1908 was the first day of San Fermín officially dedicated to the violinist Pablo Sarasate, and at a concert that day he received the Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso XII. The day began with the encierro, as on the days before.¹⁰

Who made the San Fermín 1908 poster?

Javier Ciga, the Pamplona painter, made the San Fermín 1908 poster, marked “Boceto de J. Ciga”; Ollaquindía calls it the first Ciga poster of San Fermín. It shows a young man with a guitar raising a curtain, under a portrait of Pablo Sarasate.^{11, 10}

Sources

Numbers on the page refer to this list. Diario de Navarra pages are cited from its archive (hemeroteca); quotations in Spanish are given as printed, in the spelling of the day.

Full source list

Diario de Navarra, July 5, 1908, page 1: the bulls’ night before the run, “los sacan de sus hoteles del gas y del Sario”; programme for July 7, “á las seis se hará el encierro de los carriquiris”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 7, 1908, page 1: programme for July 8, the Palha bulls moved to the small corral of the Portal de Rochapea and the warning rocket at six. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 9, 1908, page 1: programme for July 9, the encierro of the Guadalest bulls at six. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 10, 1908, page 1: programme for July 10, the Murube bulls leave the small corral of Rochapea at six. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 10, 1908, page 3: “En el sorteo celebrado ayer para decidir cuál de las dos ganaderías (Zalduendo y Lizaso) ha de correr en el encierro del domingo”; 842 travellers. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 11, 1908, page 1: the Murube encierro of July 10, “los bichos de Murube que corrieron de firme”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 12, 1908, page 1: programme for Sunday, July 12, the day dedicated to Pablo Sarasate; no encierro on July 11; “y acabaron las fiestas”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 12, 1908, page 3: an outside newspaper’s report that the bulls escaped on July 8: “Es una delicia esta información.” Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 14, 1908, page 1: the last encierro, July 12, “Como último día, los corredores eran ... en mayor número que nunca”. Diario de Navarra archive
Ricardo Ollaquindía, 100 años de carteles de las fiestas y ferias de San Fermín (1882 to 1981), Pamplona, 1981, chapter “1908”. Free copy in the Biblioteca Navarra Digital (BiNaDi). binadi.navarra.es
The poster of the Fiestas y Ferias de San Fermín 1908 itself, dated Pamplona, June 20, 1908, signed by the mayor Daniel Irujo and the secretary Agapito Goñi; “Boceto de J. Ciga”; printed by Lit. E. Portabella.
Fototeca de Pamplona, Archivo Municipal de Pamplona (photographs of the encierro, free to view online; publication needs the archive’s permission). archivo.pamplona.es

How to cite this page

Encierro. “Running of the Bulls 1908: San Fermín in Pamplona.” Encierro.com, November 9, 2026. https://encierro.com/san-fermin-1908/

Corrections and updates

November 9, 2026: questions and answers rewritten around what people search, each answer with its sources; the poster labelled with its Spanish name, cartel.
November 8, 2026: page published.

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