The Encierro archive · 1927

Running of the Bulls 1927: San Fermín in Pamplona

San Fermín 1927 had bull runs (encierros) at seven in the morning, and one ended in death. On Friday, July 8, a bull of Cruz del Castillo gored Santiago Martínez Zufía, a bricklayer of Pamplona, aged 34, who died of the wound. The known run days were July 7 to 11; on two of them a bull was left behind and a second encierro had to be run to bring it in.^{1, 2, 6, 5, 4, 7, 9, 14}

By Encierro · Last reviewed November 9, 2026

1death: gored July 8

7:00start, a.m.

2second encierros, July 7 and 10

How the fiesta ran in 1927

The programme set the encierro “a las siete”, at seven, with free entry to the ring except the stands and boxes, at a peseta.¹

On Friday, July 8, in the second day’s encierro, a bull of Cruz del Castillo gored Santiago Martínez Zufía, a bricklayer of Pamplona, aged 34, who died of the wound. Pamplona’s list of encierro deaths gives July 8, 1927.^{6, 7, 14} The next afternoon the crowd in the ring raised a collection for his widow and children: a rain of coins, 4,447.40 pesetas and 221.75 francs.^{6, 5} On July 11 the city gave him an official and popular farewell, with the mayor, the band La Pamplonesa and many people following him to the cemetery.⁷

The paper drew a lesson. The old ring, with its very narrow entrances, never had a death; the new one, with its wide gates to the encierro and the corrals, “en la que se han registrado en cuatro años dos muertos”, had seen two deaths in four years. It blamed egging on the bulls as never before and the tolerance that authorities and public alike had shown to outsiders, and asked for the matter to be looked at calmly.⁴

Every known encierro of 1927, by day and ranch

The known encierros of San Fermín 1927, from the Diario de Navarra programmes and reports.
Date	Run	Ranch (ganadería)	What the paper reported
July 7	Known run 1	Santa Coloma	A bull left behind; a second encierro; a dog to the rescue
July 8	Known run 2	Cruz del Castillo	Santiago Martínez gored; died
July 9	Known run 3	Pablo Romero	A bull fell in Estafeta and broke a leg
July 10	Known run 4	José Encinas	A bull stuck in Estafeta; a second encierro
July 11	Known run 5	Conde de la Corte	Bulls well grouped; one turned back
July 12	none		Called off

The 1927 encierros, day by day

Known run 1

Thursday, July 7, 1927 · Santa Coloma

Start7:00 a.m.

Ring full by6:30 a.m.

By half past six the ring had been taken by storm, though the thousand-odd soldiers of other years were missing. One bull, Barrabás, which had already balked at the unloading, stayed behind in the corral, held off by a herdsman behind a shelter, until steers went back for it. “Y hubo un segundo encierro, pero éste más emocionante que el anterior”: the stray bull planted itself in the ring, reckless men baited it, and the guards who saved them nearly came to grief.² Earlier, in the little square of Doña Blanca de Navarra, a bull running ahead had pinned a boy, until “un pobre perro”, a poor dog, threw itself barking at the bull, which left the boy to go for the dog. The photographer Roldán caught the moment.³

Known run 2

Friday, July 8, 1927 · Cruz del Castillo

Dead1

In the encierro of the second day a bull of Cruz del Castillo gored Santiago Martínez Zufía, a bricklayer of Pamplona, aged 34; he died of the wound.^{6, 7, 14}

Known run 3

Saturday, July 9, 1927 · Pablo Romero

Incidents1 bull hurt

The bulls ran without incident except one that, turning in calle Estafeta after a runner, “se cayó y se partió una pata”, fell and broke a leg.⁴

Known run 4

Sunday, July 10, 1927 · José Encinas

Bull stuck in EstafetaAbout 15 minutes

Eight black Encinas bulls ran on Sunday. Two runners charged by a loose bull flattened themselves under the step of the fence and took its hook without moving. Then “hubo que hacer otro encierro para traer al toro que se había quedado en la calle de la Estafeta”: a bull stood for about a quarter of an hour between the fences at the lower corner of Estafeta and the Escalerillas, with two runners hanging from a window above its head, until steers fetched it. Getting the steers out of the ring was so hard that the paper suggested keeping spare steers near the Rochapea corral.⁷ Neighbours of Estafeta asked the paper to praise the municipal guard Bibiano Lasheras for his brave work while the bull was there.⁸

Known run 5

Monday, July 11, 1927 · Conde de la Corte

IncidentsNone

Thousands of people again made their way to the ring. “Los toros que ayer se encerraron en la forma acostumbrada fueron los del conde de La Corte”: the Conde de la Corte bulls entered the ring well grouped, with nobody bothering them on the way. One turned back at the very gate of the corral and ran along the fence, without harm, because the passage behind the barrier had been cleared.⁹ The programme had announced one more encierro for Tuesday, July 12, but after a rain postponement, “Suprimido el encierro”, the encierro was called off.^{11, 10}

San Fermín 1927 poster (cartel)

Artist: Bartolozzi (signature)
Dated: Pamplona, June 1, 1927
Printed by: Lit. S. Durá, Valencia

Bartolozzi painted a txistulari, pipe at his lips and drum at his hip, in a dark beret, white shirt, brown waistcoat, red sash and blue trousers, against a wash of green, beside the crowned shield of Pamplona. The poster also promises “emocionantes encierros”, exciting encierros.¹²

Ollaquindía notes that the 1927 programme carried two very San Fermín figures by Bartolozzi, front and back: a chistulari and a macero, the mace-bearer. “Uno pone ritmo; el otro, dignidad”: one brings the rhythm, the other the dignity. The programme also listed a firework display every night by the Pamplona pyrotechnicians Manuel Oroquieta and Son.¹³

Pamplona in 1927

Hemingway

The year after the novel

Hemingway came back to San Fermín in 1927, Ollaquindía writes, after publishing the novel known in Spanish as “Fiesta”, which made him world famous.¹³

Words of 1927

Un segundo encierro

When a bull was left behind, a “segundo encierro” was run to bring it in with the steers, the mansos or cabestros. A bull that lagged was rezagado.^{2, 7, 8}

Photographs

Where to see old photographs

The Diario de Navarra printed Roldán’s photograph of the dog and the bull on July 8, 1927. The city’s photo archive, the Fototeca de Pamplona, holds historic photographs of the encierro, free to view online.^{3, 15}

San Fermín 1927: questions and answers

Who died in the running of the bulls in 1927?

Santiago Martínez Zufía, a 34-year-old bricklayer of Pamplona, died in the running of the bulls of San Fermín 1927. A bull of Cruz del Castillo gored him in the encierro of Friday, July 8, 1927, and Pamplona’s list of encierro deaths includes him.^{6, 14}

How did Pamplona help the family of Santiago Martínez Zufía?

The crowd in Pamplona’s bullring raised a collection for the widow and children of Santiago Martínez Zufía on the afternoon of the day after he was gored in 1927: a rain of coins worth 4,447.40 pesetas and 221.75 francs. On July 11, 1927 the city gave him an official and popular farewell, with the mayor and the band La Pamplonesa.^{6, 5, 7}

How did the Diario de Navarra compare the old and new bullrings in 1927?

The Diario de Navarra wrote in 1927 that Pamplona’s old bullring, with its very narrow entrances, never had a death in the encierro, while the new ring, with wide gates, had seen two deaths in four years. The paper blamed egging on the bulls as never before and the tolerance that authorities and public alike had shown to outsiders.⁴

What happened with the dog in the 1927 encierro?

A dog saved a boy in the running of the bulls of July 7, 1927. In the little square of Doña Blanca de Navarra a bull pinned the boy until the dog threw itself barking at the bull, which left the boy to go for the dog. The photographer Roldán caught the moment.³

What is a second encierro?

A second encierro, segundo encierro, was run in Pamplona when a bull was left behind: the steers went out again to bring it in to the ring. In San Fermín 1927 that happened on two mornings, July 7 and July 10.^{2, 7, 8}

Did Hemingway go to San Fermín in 1927?

Ernest Hemingway came back to San Fermín in 1927, Ricardo Ollaquindía writes, after publishing the novel known in Spanish as Fiesta, which made him world famous.¹³

When were the bull runs of San Fermín 1927?

The running of the bulls of San Fermín 1927 started at seven in the morning, and the known run days were Thursday, July 7, to Monday, July 11, 1927. The encierro programmed for Tuesday, July 12, was called off after a rain postponement.^{1, 2, 9, 11, 10}

Who made the San Fermín 1927 poster?

Bartolozzi made the San Fermín 1927 poster, signed on the poster itself: a txistulari playing pipe and drum, in a dark beret and red sash, beside the crowned shield of Pamplona. The programme also carried his macero, the mace-bearer.^{12, 13}

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 6, 1927, page 1: programme, “a las siete se verificará el encierro de los toros”; “Para este espectáculo se permite la entrada libre y gratuita en la plaza de toros”, except the stands and boxes. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 8, 1927, page 1: the first encierro, July 7, the ring “tomada ... por asalto” by 6:30; the bull Barrabás left behind, “Y hubo un segundo encierro, pero éste más emocionante que el anterior”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 8, 1927, page 3: photograph by Roldán in the plazuela de Doña Blanca de Navarra, “un pobre perro”, and the July 7 bulls of Santa Coloma. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 10, 1927, page 1: the encierro of July 9, a bull that “se cayó y se partió una pata”; the present ring, “en la que se han registrado en cuatro años dos muertos”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 10, 1927, page 3: the collection for the family of Santiago Martínez, “fallecido a consecuencia de la cornada que en el encierro del viernes le dió un toro”: 4,447.40 pesetas and 221.75 francs. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 10, 1927, page 2: Santiago Martínez, “muerto a consecuencia de la cornada que, en el encierro del segundo día, le dió un toro de Cruz del Castillo”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 12, 1927, page 1: the Encinas encierro of July 10, “hubo que hacer otro encierro para traer al toro que se había quedado en la calle de la Estafeta”; funeral of the bricklayer Santiago Martínez on July 11. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 13, 1927, page 1: praise for the municipal guard Bibiano Lasheras, for his work “durante el tiempo que el domingo permaneció un toro rezagado en la calle de Estafeta”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 12, 1927, page 2: “Los toros que ayer se encerraron en la forma acostumbrada fueron los del conde de La Corte”, July 11. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 13, 1927, page 1: “Suprimido el encierro”, July 12, after a postponement. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 10, 1927, page 2: programme for Tuesday, July 12, “Como en días anteriores habrá dianas y encierro a las horas de costumbre”. Diario de Navarra archive
The poster of the Ferias y Fiestas de San Fermín 1927 itself, dated Pamplona, June 1, 1927; signed Bartolozzi; printed by Lit. S. Durá, Valencia.
Ricardo Ollaquindía, 100 años de carteles de las fiestas y ferias de San Fermín (1882 to 1981), Pamplona, 1981, chapter “1927”. Free copy in the Biblioteca Navarra Digital (BiNaDi). binadi.navarra.es
Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, “Pamplona recordará a los 16 fallecidos en la historia del encierro con adoquines”, December 27, 2023. pamplona.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 1927: San Fermín in Pamplona.” Encierro.com, November 9, 2026. https://encierro.com/san-fermin-1927/

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