The Encierro archive · 1925

Running of the Bulls 1925: San Fermín in Pamplona

In 1925 the bull run (encierro) of San Fermín went back to six in the morning, and Ernest Hemingway came back to Pamplona to gather what became the second half of his novel. There were runs on July 7, 8, 9 and 11, none on July 10, and the last on Sunday, July 12; on the first morning the ring “estaba tomada la plaza de toros por asalto”, taken by storm, by half past five.^{15, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10}

By Encierro · Last reviewed November 9, 2026

6:00start, a.m., back from 7:00

5runs, July 7 to 12

0runs on July 10

How the fiesta ran in 1925

“Los encierros vuelven a celebrarse a las seis de la mañana”, Ollaquindía notes: the encierros went back to six.¹⁵ In 1924 they had been moved to seven.¹⁶ The programme set the first for six sharp, at the bang of a rocket, from the little corral at the Rochapea gate.²

Hemingway came back in 1925, Ollaquindía writes, quoting José María Iribarren, this time to write a long novel. What he studied of the fiestas that July went into the second half of the book that made him famous, published in Spanish as “Fiesta”.¹⁵ After the fiesta the mayor, Leandro Nagore, sent a complete collection of photographs of that year’s encierros to Mr. Moore, at the wish of the United States ambassador.¹³

The mayor’s bando closed Estafeta to passers, especially women and children, from 5:30 until the encierro, and opened the ring gate at 5:45 for runners only, who were forbidden to stop on the course or at the entrance.¹ Nagore told the paper his agents would let no one stand in the streets of the course, because some cattle, like the Miuras, were hard-legged, and bravery or recklessness up front could end badly.²

Every known encierro of 1925, by day and ranch

The encierros of San Fermín 1925, from the Diario de Navarra programmes and reports.
Date	Run	Ranch (ganadería)	What the paper reported
July 7	1	Francisco Villar	Ring taken by storm by 5:30
July 8	2	Miura	Big crowd ahead; photographed
July 9	3	Cándido Díaz	Straight to the corral
July 10	none		No encierro
July 11	4	Gamero Cívico	One bull turned back to the corral
July 12	5, last	Pablo Romero	No incidents; photographed

The 1925 encierros, day by day

Run 1 of 5

Tuesday, July 7, 1925 · Francisco Villar

Start6:00 a.m.

Ring full by5:30 a.m.

The programme: “A las seis en punto, al estampido de un chupinazo”, the bulls of Francisco Villar would leave the little corral at the Rochapea gate, with entry to the ring free except the boxes and stands.² “Para las cinco y media de la mañana estaba tomada la plaza de toros por asalto”: by half past five the ring had been taken by storm, the stands bursting, with only the seats of the people watching the bulls arrive from the outer terraces still empty.³

Run 2 of 5

Wednesday, July 8, 1925 · Miura

Start6:00 a.m.

The programme set the encierro at six sharp.³ “Ayer correspondió hacer el encierro a los toros de la ganadería de Miura”: the Miura bulls ran, and as on San Fermín’s day a great crowd went ahead of them; more watched from the side streets, the little squares and the balconies.⁴ The paper printed two photographs of the Miura encierro the next day.⁵

Run 3 of 5

Thursday, July 9, 1925 · Cándido Díaz

Start6:00 a.m.

IncidentsNone

At six sharp the Cándido Díaz bulls left the Rochapea gate.⁶ They entered the ring and “marcharon rectos al corral, sin que se registrara el menor incidente”: went straight to the corral without the slightest incident. Afterwards, as always, the town was flooded with people at the early hour when the sun was just starting to warm.⁶ The paper printed a photograph of the Díaz encierro.¹²

Run 4 of 5

Saturday, July 11, 1925 · Gamero Cívico

Start6:00 a.m.

There had been no encierro the day before: “Como no hubo ayer toros, y por lo tanto encierro”, the town showed no sign of life until well into the morning. The programme set this one at six sharp.⁷ One bull thought better of it and went back into the corral “siguiendo al resto de la manada”, following the rest of the herd. Cars kept arriving all morning and the Plaza del Castillo could not hold the crowd.⁸ The Gamero Cívico bulls had been unloaded before the fiesta.¹

Run 5 of 5, the last

Sunday, July 12, 1925 · Pablo Romero

Start6:00 a.m.

IncidentsNone

“A las seis en punto tendrá lugar el último encierro de los toros”, the Sunday programme said: the last encierro, at six sharp.⁹ On the last day of the fiesta several hundred more cars brought visitors drawn by “nuestro clásico encierro, que se celebró sin incidentes”, our classic encierro, which passed without incident.¹⁰ The paper printed photographs of the Pablo Romero bulls in the street and entering the ring.¹¹

San Fermín 1925 poster (cartel)

Artist: Penagos (signed Penagos XXV)
Fiesta on the poster: Del 6 al 18 de julio
Dated: Pamplona, June 1, 1925

Ollaquindía notes that the 1925 programme carried two drawings by Penagos, a “manola” on the front.¹⁵ The poster has the same young woman: a black mantilla and a long black fringed shawl, a pink carnation at her breast, leaning on a railing hung with flower garlands, with red and yellow banners and the crowned shield of Pamplona behind her. It also announces flying shows with a parachute descent and a big cycle race.¹⁴

The new events that year included, on July 9, aerobatics by the pilot José Ansaldo over the Fuerte del Príncipe field, ending with a parachute jump from at least a thousand metres by F. Cormier.¹⁵

Pamplona in 1925

The fiesta in the 1920s

Carnival years

José María Iribarren, quoted by Ollaquindía, called 1920 to 1927 the libertarian years, when the fiesta had a lot of carnival in it: drinkers in bathrobes and top hats, faces blacked with soot, carnival noses, cardboard horses and toy trumpets from the fair.¹⁵

Words of 1925

Por asalto

A ring taken “por asalto” was taken by storm. A bull that turned back “se volvió”, and the herd was the manada. The encierro left from the corralillo at the Rochapea gate.^{3, 8, 2}

Photographs

Where to see old photographs

The Diario de Navarra printed photographs of the 1925 encierros of July 8 (Miura), July 9 (Díaz) and July 12 (Pablo Romero). The city’s photo archive, the Fototeca de Pamplona, holds historic photographs of the encierro, free to view online.^{5, 12, 11, 17}

San Fermín 1925: questions and answers

Did Hemingway’s novel come from San Fermín 1925?

Ernest Hemingway came back to Pamplona for San Fermín 1925 to write a long novel, and what he studied of the fiestas that July went into the second half of the book that made him famous, published in Spanish as Fiesta, Ollaquindía writes, quoting José María Iribarren.¹⁵

What time was the running of the bulls in 1925?

The running of the bulls of San Fermín 1925 went back to six in the morning, Ollaquindía notes; in 1924 the encierros had been at seven, and the Diario de Navarra programmes of 1925 set them at six sharp.^{15, 16, 2}

When were the bull runs of San Fermín 1925?

The bull runs of San Fermín 1925 took place on July 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12, 1925, the last on Sunday, July 12; there was no encierro on July 10.^{3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10}

Who sent photographs of the 1925 encierros to Mr. Moore?

Pamplona’s mayor, Leandro Nagore, sent a complete collection of photographs of the 1925 encierros to Mr. Moore after the fiesta, at the wish of the United States ambassador.¹³

Who made the San Fermín 1925 poster?

Penagos made the San Fermín 1925 poster, signed Penagos XXV: a young woman in a black mantilla and long fringed shawl with a pink carnation at her breast, leaning on a railing hung with garlands.^{14, 15}

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, 1925, page 3: bando: no passing along Estafeta, especially for women and children, from 5:30 until the encierro; the ring gate to open at 5:45 “pero sólo podrán entrar por ella los que corran delante del ganado”; Miura and Gamero Cívico bulls unloaded. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 7, 1925, page 3: programme for July 7, “A las seis en punto, al estampido de un chupinazo, saldrán del corralillo de puerta de Rochapea los toros de don Francisco Villar”; the mayor, Leandro Nagore, on keeping the course clear; Pablo Romero bulls arrived. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 8, 1925, page 1: the first encierro, July 7, “Para las cinco y media de la mañana estaba tomada la plaza de toros por asalto”; programme for July 8, the encierro at six sharp. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 9, 1925, page 1: “Ayer correspondió hacer el encierro a los toros de la ganadería de Miura”, July 8. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 9, 1925, page 3: two photographs, “El encierro de los toros de Miura” (Foto Galle). Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 10, 1925, page 1: the Díaz encierro of July 9, at six sharp “salieron del portal de Rochapea los toros de don Cándido Díaz”; “marcharon rectos al corral, sin que se registrara el menor incidente”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 11, 1925, page 1: “Como no hubo ayer toros, y por lo tanto encierro”, July 10; programme for July 11, the encierro at six sharp. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 12, 1925, page 1: the encierro of July 11, a bull “se volvió el toro al corral siguiendo al resto de la manada”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 12, 1925, page 3: programme for July 12, “A las seis en punto tendrá lugar el último encierro de los toros”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 14, 1925, page 1: Sunday, July 12, the last day, “nuestro clásico encierro, que se celebró sin incidentes”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 14, 1925, page 3: photographs, “Los toros de Pablo Romero, durante el encierro, al entrar en el ruedo” (Foto Roldán) and running in the street (Foto Galle). Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 10, 1925, page 3: photograph, “El encierro de los toros de Díaz” (Foto Galle). Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 14, 1925, page 2: the mayor sent “una colección completa de fotografías de los encierros” to Mr. Moore, at the wish of the United States ambassador. Diario de Navarra archive
The poster of the Ferias y Fiestas de San Fermín 1925 itself, “del 6 al 18 de Julio”, dated Pamplona, June 1, 1925; signed Penagos XXV.
Ricardo Ollaquindía, 100 años de carteles de las fiestas y ferias de San Fermín (1882 to 1981), Pamplona, 1981, chapter “1925”. Free copy in the Biblioteca Navarra Digital (BiNaDi). binadi.navarra.es
Ricardo Ollaquindía, 100 años de carteles de las fiestas y ferias de San Fermín (1882 to 1981), Pamplona, 1981, chapter “1924”: “Los encierros se celebrarán a las siete. En años anteriores eran a las seis”. Free copy in the Biblioteca Navarra Digital (BiNaDi). binadi.navarra.es
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 1925: San Fermín in Pamplona.” Encierro.com, November 9, 2026. https://encierro.com/san-fermin-1925/

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.

Walk the route with people who run it

Book your walk