San Fermín 1935 had bull runs (encierros) on July 7, 8, 9 and 10 and on Sunday, July 14, set for seven in the morning. On July 10, at the corral gate, a bull of doña Carmen de Federico gored Gonzalo Bustinduy, a 29-year-old chemical engineer living in San Sebastián, who died of his wounds. The paper feared that everything seemed to conspire towards the early disappearance of the encierros.1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 15, 11, 12
By Encierro · Last reviewed
The bulls ran on July 7, 8, 9 and 10, then once more on Sunday, July 14.3, 5, 6, 12 Visitors came early: a bus service arrived in time for the Sunday encierros, and for the last run a special train left San Sebastián at three in the morning.2, 7
On the morning of July 8 the bulls tumbled through the streets: one rolled head over heels in the little square of the Plaza Consistorial, another, at the start of Estafeta, crashed into the door of the Guerendiain house and broke it.3 General Fanjul, whom the paper called a son of Pamplona, came to the Sunday encierro of July 7, which he had not seen for many years.4
After the goring of July 10 the paper wrote that circumstances “parecen confabularse para que se llegue pronto a la desaparición de nuestros típicos y tradicionales «encierros»”, seemed to conspire towards the early disappearance of the typical and traditional encierros.6
| Date | Run | Ranch (ganadería) | What the paper reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 7 | 1 | Clairac | Immense crowd; perfect order |
| July 8 | 2 | Fernández Durán (programme) | Bulls tumbling in the streets |
| July 9 | 3 | Terrones | Bulls entered the ring very loose |
| July 10 | 4 | Carmen de Federico | Gonzalo Bustinduy gored; died |
| July 14 | 5, last | Antonio Pérez de San Fernando | No incident; a bull fell and lagged |
Run 1 of 5
“a las siete, se verificará el encierro”, the programme said.1 An immense crowd packed into the ring for the Sunday encierro, and all passed in perfect order; the bulls were those of Clairac, and the paper printed three photographs of the first encierro.3, 4
Run 2 of 5
The paper reported that the first encierros had been watched by many thousands without the least incident, though on this morning the bulls went “dando vueltas de campana por las calles”, somersaulting through the streets.3 The bulls of the day were those of Fernández Durán.14
Run 3 of 5
“A las siete en punto, encierro de los toros”.3 “Los toros de Terrones entraron muy sueltos en la plaza”: the Terrones bulls came into the ring well apart; one tried to stay behind but was soon brought into line and went into the corral. Afterwards came the very lively padded-horn cows of Alaiza.5
Run 4 of 5
The six bulls of doña Carmen de Federico, the old Murube line, were already filing into the corral gate when some reckless people cut the biggest one off from the herd, and it turned on them. A young man went at the bull with his jacket in his hand and called it from two metres away; the paper said he was in no state to know what he was doing. The bull charged, he fell trying to get away, and it gored him.6 He was Gonzalo Bustinduy, a chemical engineer of 29, born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, and living in San Sebastián. He was treated in Pamplona, taken to San Sebastián on the evening of July 11, and died there of his wounds.8, 9, 15 His funeral in San Sebastián was a great show of mourning.10
Run 5 of 5, the last
“A las siete en punto, encierro de los toros”.11 The crowd was on the thin side and the encierro passed without incident, although one bull that lagged in the street after a great tumble nearly gave a few scares in the ring, alone and surrounded by people, until a helper known as el Chico de Olite and the Alaiza herdsmen brought it in.12 The bulls were those of Antonio Pérez de San Fernando, unloaded at the Gas corrals during the week.5
Ollaquindía calls the 1935 poster one more variation on an eternal San Fermín theme: in full light, a kiliki landing bladder blows on a boy who covers his head; behind, in the half-light of dawn, a mozo running on the horns of a bull.14 On the poster the kiliki wears a black bicorne hat with gold trim, and the shadows behind fall dark across a green ground.13
He tells a story, perhaps true, perhaps invented by Ignacio Baleztena, from that Republican year: a new Japanese big-head arrived that looked just like the bishop of Pamplona. The councillor who had ordered it tried to paint the likeness away and failed; the bishop saw it in the street, took it as a joke and blessed it.14
The list of the dead
Gonzalo Bustinduy, gored on July 10, 1935, is on Pamplona’s list of encierro deaths.15
Words of 1935
Bulls that somersaulted went “dando vueltas de campana”. Bulls running apart from the herd were “muy sueltos”.3, 5
Photographs
The Diario de Navarra printed photographs of the first encierros of 1935 (Fotos Galle). The city’s photo archive, the Fototeca de Pamplona, holds historic photographs of the encierro, free to view online.4, 16
Gonzalo Bustinduy, a 29-year-old chemical engineer living in San Sebastián, died in the running of the bulls of San Fermín 1935. A bull of doña Carmen de Federico gored him at the corral gate on July 10, 1935, after the bull was cut off from the herd, and he is on Pamplona’s list of encierro deaths.6, 9, 15
After Gonzalo Bustinduy was gored on July 10, 1935, the Diario de Navarra wrote that circumstances seemed to conspire towards the early disappearance of Pamplona’s typical and traditional encierros.6
Visitors reached the San Fermín 1935 encierros by bus and by train: a bus service arrived in time for the Sunday encierros, and a special train left San Sebastián at three in the morning for the last run, on July 14, 1935.2, 7
The bulls tumbled through Pamplona’s streets on July 8, 1935. One rolled head over heels in the little square of the Plaza Consistorial, and another crashed into the door of the Guerendiain house at the start of Estafeta and broke it.3
The running of the bulls of San Fermín 1935 took place on July 7, 8, 9 and 10 and on Sunday, July 14, 1935, set for seven in the morning.1, 3, 5, 6, 11, 12
J. L. Elvira made the San Fermín 1935 poster, signed on the poster itself: a kiliki in a black bicorne hat lands bladder blows on a boy who covers his head, while behind, in the half-light of dawn, a runner runs on the horns of a bull.13, 14
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 1935: San Fermín in Pamplona.” Encierro.com, November 9, 2026. https://encierro.com/san-fermin-1935/