San Fermín 1930 had six bull runs (encierros), at seven in the morning on July 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13, with no run on Friday, July 11, which the paper called a bridge day with no encierro. The Antonio Pérez bulls ran the course in under three minutes on July 12, and the paper reported no incident all week.3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
By Encierro · Last reviewed
Ollaquindía notes that in 1930 the encierros were at seven sharp in the morning.12 The bando set six: July 7, 8, 9 and 10, then a day off on Friday, July 11, and two more on July 12 and 13, the last; all six were run.1, 7, 9, 10
The mayor issued a second bando that year, because the fiestas, he said, were being distorted year by year by thoughtlessness and showing off: clothes “cuyo carácter claramente estrafalario o de tono de disfraz”, clearly outlandish or fancy dress, were banned, and the parade of the mozos’ groups through the town was regulated.2
| Date | Run | Ranch (ganadería) | What the paper reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 7 | 1 | Manuel Blanco | No incident; in like lambs |
| July 8 | 2 | Concha y Sierra | Herd split in two by runners |
| July 9 | 3 | Carmen de Federico | A smaller crowd |
| July 10 | 4 | Encinas | One bull loose for a moment |
| July 11 | none | A bridge day, no encierro | |
| July 12 | 5 | Antonio Pérez | Under three minutes |
| July 13 | 6, last | Pablo Romero | Sunny; no incident |
Run 1 of 6
At seven sharp, with the ring packed, the huge bulls of Manuel Blanco, of Salamanca, ran the course “sin que hubiera que lamentar el más insignificante incidente”, without the slightest incident. Preceded, surrounded and followed by dense crowds, they went into the ring’s corrals like lambs. Then came very lively padded-horn cows of the Navarre ranch of Alaiza, mobbed by amateurs to the protests of the public.3
Run 2 of 6
Crowds came from Aragón, La Rioja, Gipuzkoa, Álava and Bizkaia. The Concha y Sierra bulls entered the ring “cortados por la gente”, cut through by the crowd running mixed in with them: first three bulls, then a thick pack of people, then the other three. A photograph showed the herd split in two by daring runners.4
Run 3 of 6
The bulls were those of doña Carmen de Federico.5 “El encierro de los toros antiguos de Murube”, the encierro of the old Murube bulls, drew an enormous crowd to the ring, though not as large as on other days, so that, a rare thing, there were some empty seats. It went without incident, though the bulls entered in two groups.6
Run 4 of 6
The Encinas bulls carried a thick pack of runners ahead of them in their headlong run. One got slightly loose as it entered the ring and was held for a moment until a couple of steers fetched it. “Y no pasó nada; como no debe pasar”: nothing happened, as nothing should.7
Run 5 of 6
After the day off, “A las siete en punto se verificará el encierro de los toros, según antigua costumbre”.8 A cold wind and drizzle thinned the upper seats, but the lower stands overflowed like a bay in a storm. At seven sharp, at the bang of the rocket, the Antonio Pérez bulls “hicieron el recorrido en menos de tres minutos”, ran the course in under three minutes, surrounded by countless boys who lost all respect for them, and crossed the ring wrapped by the steers into the corral.9
Run 6 of 6, the last
On the clearest, sunniest day of the fiesta, with the ring bursting, “se verificó el último encierro, que lo hicieron los toros de Pablo Romero”, mixed in with several hundred runners. Two bulls and two steers came in first and, with people in between, the other three bulls with three steers, without the least incident.10
“en fuerte contraste de luz y sombras”: in strong contrast of light and shadow, Ollaquindía writes, the 1930 poster shows a chistulari all in white and the encierro entering the dark alley.12 The piper plays pipe and drum, a red neckerchief and sash on his white clothes, while the dark shadows of the bulls rise behind him; the crowned shield of Pamplona stands at his side.11
The programme also promised flying shows on July 11 and 12, with acrobatics and a parachutist jumping from 700 metres and falling 200 before opening his parachute.12
Words of 1930
A day off in the middle of the fiesta was a “día puente”, a bridge day. A herd split by runners was “partido por gala en dos”. The steers as a group were the cabestraje.7, 4, 9
Photographs
The Diario de Navarra printed photographs of the 1930 encierros, among them the Blanco bulls at the ring gate and the Concha y Sierra herd split in two. The city’s photo archive, the Fototeca de Pamplona, holds historic photographs of the encierro, free to view online.3, 4, 13
San Fermín 1930 had six bull runs at seven in the morning, on July 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13, 1930. There was no encierro on Friday, July 11, which the Diario de Navarra called a bridge day.12, 1, 7, 9, 10
The Antonio Pérez bulls ran the course in under three minutes on July 12, 1930, the Diario de Navarra reported.9
The Diario de Navarra reported no incidents in any of the six runs of 1930; on July 10 a bull stopped for a moment in the ring, and nothing happened, “como no debe pasar”, as nothing should.4, 7
Pamplona’s mayor issued a second bando in 1930 because the fiestas, he said, were being distorted year by year by thoughtlessness and showing off, and banned clearly outlandish clothes or fancy dress.2
Lizarraga made the San Fermín 1930 poster, signed on the poster itself: a chistulari all in white playing pipe and drum, and the encierro entering the dark alley behind him, in strong contrast of light and shadow, as Ollaquindía puts it.11, 12
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.
Encierro. “Running of the Bulls 1930: San Fermín in Pamplona.” Encierro.com, November 9, 2026. https://encierro.com/san-fermin-1930/