The Encierro archive · 1928

Running of the Bulls 1928: San Fermín in Pamplona

In 1928 the mayor’s bando set the bull run (encierro) at seven every morning from July 7 to 11 and wrote down the course: from the Rochapea gate by Santo Domingo, the Plaza Consistorial, Mercaderes and Estafeta to the bullring. The paper ended the fiesta saying the encierros had been “un alarde de valor”, a show of courage, and that nothing had happened.^{1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 7, 10}

By Encierro · Last reviewed November 9, 2026

7:00start, a.m.

5runs, July 7 to 11

0incidents reported, July 10

How the fiesta ran in 1928

The bando of the mayor, Jenaro Larrache, agreed with the civil governor, set the encierros daily at seven, “siendo el recorrido desde la Puerta de Rochapea, por las calles de Santo Domingo, Plaza Consistorial, Mercaderes y Estafeta hasta la plaza de toros”. From ten at night until word came that the herd was penned in the ring, nobody could pass through the Rochapea gate.¹

Before the fiesta a retired runner, in an article titled “Mi cuarto a espadas”, my two cents, warned that the encierros were heading for extinction because of runners with no sense, drunks and jokers. Since bulls from Navarre ranches no longer ran with their own steers, he said, it was easy for a bull to break ahead; run calmly, watch the bulls, the stretch and the crowd, and never try to outrun a loose bull.²

Afterwards the paper praised the mayor, who came to the encierros himself, and his agents: thanks to the measures taken, the encierros had been “lo que nunca debieran haber dejado de ser: un alarde de valor”, what they should never have stopped being, a show of courage by strong young men racing the bulls on their legs.¹⁰

Every known encierro of 1928, by day and ranch

The encierros of San Fermín 1928, from the mayor’s bando and the Diario de Navarra reports.
Date	Run	Ranch (ganadería)	What the paper reported
July 7	1	Conde de la Corte	Two goes; one bull left behind
July 8	2	Peñalver	Bulls loose ahead; no incident
July 9	3	Flores	A man walked out to meet the bulls
July 10	4	Encinas	Covered by good steers; a torn pair of trousers
July 11	5, last	Pablo Romero	Eight bulls in the ring in two minutes

The 1928 encierros, day by day

Run 1 of 5

Saturday, July 7, 1928 · Conde de la Corte

Start7:00 a.m.

Over by7:30 a.m.

“A las siete en punto se celebrará el encierro de los toros”, the programme said.³ Two bulls came in loose, well ahead of the herd, and the agents had to make the runners peel off to the barriers instead of stopping in the middle of the ring. The Conde de la Corte bulls went into the corrals “en dos veces”, in two goes: five with the steers, then one that had lagged in the Plaza Consistorial and gone on to the little square of Doña Blanca de Navarra hooking at the boards, with no worse damage than a broken board. By half past seven it was over and the crowd poured into the town.⁴

Run 2 of 5

Sunday, July 8, 1928 · Peñalver

IncidentsNone

It was Sunday, and the ring was packed; “hubo muchos que se quedaron sin poder entrar para ver el encierro”, many could not get in and watched the bulls rush past from the fences. The Peñalver encierro passed without incident, although the bulls ran like the day before, loose and ahead of the steers, hooking left and right and driving a big crowd of daring young men ahead of them, straight through the ring into the corral. Afterwards two bad-tempered steers sent into the ring were the only animals that really charged, and one left a young man bruised on the ground; the paper said such steers belonged in the encierro, wrapping the bulls.⁵

Run 3 of 5

Monday, July 9, 1928 · Flores

IncidentsNone

On Monday, in Estafeta, a man walked out towards the oncoming bulls. The first two, running in the middle well wrapped by the steers, left a gap for him; the second pair, surprised, could only swerve their heads and knocked him over with their hindquarters, “y aquí no ha pasado nada”, and nothing happened here.⁶ The paper printed photographs of the Flores bulls, formerly the Duque de Braganza’s, entering the ring.^{8, 12}

Run 4 of 5

Tuesday, July 10, 1928 · Encinas

DamageOne pair of trousers

The ring was full again, and the encierro of the six Encinas bulls “se verificó sin incidentes”. This time the bulls ran the whole way covered by four or five good steers that knew their job, and entered the ring and the corrals with no more damage than a tear in the trousers of a young man who fell at the gate, at whom a bull hooked as a mere formality.⁹

Run 5 of 5, the last

Wednesday, July 11, 1928 · Pablo Romero

Start7:00 a.m.

To the ring2 minutes

At seven “salieron del corral de Rochapea los ocho toros andaluces de Pablo Romero y a los dos minutos se plantaron en el redondel”: the eight Pablo Romero bulls left the Rochapea corral and two minutes later were in the ring, driving so vast a crowd ahead that at the gate runners and bulls became one mass, and no one could tell where the last runners’ backs ended and the horns began. Wrapped by the steers, they went into the corrals; the only scare was a grey bull that turned back at the corral gate until two men in the ring coaxed it in.⁷

San Fermín 1928 poster (cartel)

Artist: Luis Bertodano (signature)
Fiesta on the poster: Del 6 al 18 de julio
Dated: Pamplona, June 1, 1928
Printed by: Lit. S. Durá, Valencia

The 1928 poster is the encierro itself: young men in berets and red neckerchiefs pour down a street between wooden fences packed with spectators, bulls and steers right behind them. Two smiling women in shawls and the Pamplona bullring look on from the top, and red carnations frame the scene.¹¹

Ollaquindía notes that the programme cover, printed in Valencia like many before it, showed scenes of the encierro and the bulls among flowers and garlands, presided over by two Valencian girls. Bertodano gave up his fee for the poster, and with it, and the council paying the rest, the city put on a children’s show in the bullring, free except the stands and boxes, with snacks and toys for poor children.¹²

Pamplona in 1928

The course in 1928

Four streets

The bando of 1928 is the clearest description of the course in these years: from the Puerta de Rochapea, up Santo Domingo, across the Plaza Consistorial, along Mercaderes and Estafeta to the ring.¹

Words of 1928

Cabestraje

The steers as a group were the cabestraje, and the retired runner’s complaint was that bulls no longer ran “con propio cabestraje”, with their own steers. A crowd of runners was a tropel.^{2, 5}

Photographs

Where to see old photographs

The Diario de Navarra printed photographs of the encierros of July 8 and 9, 1928. The city’s photo archive, the Fototeca de Pamplona, holds historic photographs of the encierro, free to view online.^{8, 13}

San Fermín 1928: questions and answers

What was the route of the running of the bulls in 1928?

The mayor’s bando of 1928 set the route of the running of the bulls from the Puerta de Rochapea by the streets of Santo Domingo, the Plaza Consistorial, Mercaderes and Estafeta to the bullring, the clearest description of the course in those years.¹

When were the bull runs of San Fermín 1928?

San Fermín 1928 had a bull run at seven in the morning every day from Saturday, July 7, to Wednesday, July 11, 1928: five runs, all reported in the Diario de Navarra.^{1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 7}

Was anyone hurt in the 1928 running of the bulls?

No runner was reported hurt by a bull in the running of the bulls of 1928. On July 8 a bad-tempered steer sent into the ring afterwards left a young man bruised, and after the fiesta the paper said the encierros had been “un alarde de valor”, a show of courage.^{5, 10}

Why did a retired runner fear for the encierro in 1928?

A retired runner warned before San Fermín 1928 that the encierros were heading for extinction because of runners with no sense, drunks and jokers, and because bulls no longer ran with their own steers. His advice: run calmly, watch the bulls, the stretch and the crowd, and never try to outrun a loose bull.²

How fast was the last run of 1928?

The eight Pablo Romero bulls of the last run of 1928, on July 11, left the Rochapea corral and were in the ring two minutes later, driving so vast a crowd ahead that runners and bulls became one mass at the gate.⁷

Who made the San Fermín 1928 poster?

Luis Bertodano made the San Fermín 1928 poster, signed on the poster itself: the encierro itself, young men in berets and red neckerchiefs pouring down a fenced street with the bulls and steers right behind them. Bertodano gave up his fee for the poster.^{11, 12}

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 4, 1928, page 2: bando of the mayor, Jenaro Larrache, with the civil governor: the encierros daily at seven, “siendo el recorrido desde la Puerta de Rochapea, por las calles de Santo Domingo, Plaza Consistorial, Mercaderes y Estafeta hasta la plaza de toros”, and the closing of the Rochapea gate from ten at night. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 4, 1928, page 2: “Mi cuarto a espadas”, by a retired runner: “desde que no se corren ganaderías de la tierra con propio cabestraje, es muy fácil que se adelante un cornúpeto”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 7, 1928, page 1: programme for July 7, “A las siete en punto se celebrará el encierro de los toros”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 8, 1928, page 1: the Conde de la Corte encierro of July 7, the bulls in the corrals “en dos veces”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 10, 1928, page 1: the weekend crowds, “hubo muchos que se quedaron sin poder entrar para ver el encierro”; the Peñalver encierro of July 8 “se hizo sin novedad”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 10, 1928, page 1: “El lunes”, the encierro of July 9: a man walked out to meet the bulls in Estafeta, “y aquí no ha pasado nada”; a young man bruised by a steer in the ring afterwards. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 12, 1928, page 1: the Pablo Romero encierro of July 11, “salieron del corral de Rochapea los ocho toros andaluces de Pablo Romero y a los dos minutos se plantaron en el redondel”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 10, 1928, page 3: photographs of the encierros of July 8 and 9, the Flores bulls entering the ring (Fotos Galle, Roldán, Cia). Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 11, 1928, page 1: the Encinas encierro of July 10, “se verificó sin incidentes”. Diario de Navarra archive
Diario de Navarra, July 12, 1928, page 1: review of the fiestas, the encierros “lo que nunca debieran haber dejado de ser: un alarde de valor”. Diario de Navarra archive
The poster of the Fiestas y Ferias de San Fermín 1928 itself, “del 6 al 18 de julio”, dated Pamplona, June 1, 1928; signed Luis Bertodano; 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 “1928”. 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 1928: San Fermín in Pamplona.” Encierro.com, November 9, 2026. https://encierro.com/san-fermin-1928/

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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