San Fermín 1941 is the year the fiesta’s opening rocket was first fired from the town hall, on July 6. The bull runs (encierros) followed at seven in the morning on July 7, 8, 9 and 10, then on July 12 and 13. On July 10 storms washed out everything outdoors “con excepción del encierro de los toros”, except the encierro; on July 12 a woman watching from a rooftop in Estafeta fell to the street and died.12, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9
By Encierro · Last reviewed
Ollaquindía, quoting José Joaquín Arazuri, marks 1941 as the year the programme first had the start of the fiesta announced with rockets fired “desde la Casa del Ayuntamiento”, from the town hall, at noon on July 6, instead of from different points of the town. This, Arazuri writes, was the birth of what would later be called the “Chupinazo”, on the initiative of Joaquín Ilundáin.12 The paper photographed Ilundáin, the first deputy mayor, lighting the fuse of the first rocket, and an immense crowd gathered in the Plaza Consistorial at noon.2
The programme set dianas from July 7 to 10 and on July 13, and at seven sharp, by tradition, the encierro of the day’s bulls.1 On Saturday, July 12, four of the eight Trespalacios bulls for Sunday ran, and the rest on Sunday.7, 8, 10
It was a stormy fiesta. On July 8 a storm broke at half past six, and the encierro was run at seven on damp ground; on July 9 thousands stood in the rain to watch, “como si fuera una obligación”, as if it were an obligation; and on July 10 everything outdoors was called off except the encierro, run under thunder and a terrible downpour.4, 5, 6
| Date | Run | Ranch (ganadería) | What the paper reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 7 | 1 | Villagodio | Not a pin could fit in the ring |
| July 8 | 2 | Cobaleda | After a storm, on damp ground |
| July 9 | 3 | Murube | Thousands in the rain |
| July 10 | 4 | Clairac (young bulls) | Run in a downpour |
| July 12 | 5 | Trespalacios (four bulls) | A runner hurt; a spectator fell to her death |
| July 13 | 6, last | Trespalacios (four bulls) | The rest of the herd |
Run 1 of 6
The whole town was on its feet; such a crowd squeezed into the ring “para presenciar el primer encierro de los toros de las fiestas” that not a pin could fit, and more people came in behind the bulls than ahead of them. “Los toros de Villagodio entraron en pelotón”, the Villagodio bulls came in bunched, ignoring everyone around them, and went into the corral like lambs.1, 3
Run 2 of 6
After a storm at half past six the encierro could still be run at seven, on damp ground, and the Cobaleda bulls ran it in poor conditions, falling again and again as they turned the corners of the course.4
Run 3 of 6
Even in the rain people went to the ring for the encierro “como si fuera una obligación”, as if it were an obligation: thousands of spectators, soaked to the bone, stood through the downpour while the Murube bulls of doña Carmen de Federico ran the course as best they could, falling and getting up.5
Run 4 of 6
The day was washed out, with everything outdoors suspended “con excepción del encierro de los toros que esto no hay más remedio que celebrarlo a la hora señalada”, except the encierro, which simply has to be held at its appointed hour. It was run under a tremendous storm, with thunder and a terrible downpour; the runners, the paper said, did not so much run as navigate the streets.6
Run 5 of 6
The programme set the encierro at seven with half of the next day’s bulls, and four of the eight Trespalacios bulls ran.7, 8 A runner was caught; the bull did not stay to finish the job and went to two skilled men who drew it off. “Afortunadamente, no es cosa mayor, de cuya herida curará pronto”: fortunately it was nothing serious, and he would soon recover. That morning a woman of 50, who lived in calle Tejeras, went to watch the bulls pass from a friend’s rooftop terrace at Estafeta 81; leaning out too far, she fell, was held for a moment by the electric cables, which sparked under her weight, and dropped head first to the street. She died moments later.8
Run 6 of 6, the last
The rest of the Trespalacios herd ran on Sunday, the last day of the fiesta; once the bulls were penned, half a dozen padded-horn animals were let out for the amateurs.10, 9
Ollaquindía describes the 1941 poster as a big-head posing unmoved beside a thrilling scene of the encierro, his hollow head holding no thought but walking with dignity beside the giants and the council.12 On the poster he wears a double-breasted coat and carries a mace, while behind him runners fall before the bulls; the poster announces “emocionantes encierros”.11
Ollaquindía also notes the new, shorter formula on the programme’s first page, “para honrar a su Glorioso Patrono”, to honour its glorious patron.12
The Chupinazo
Today the fiesta opens with a rocket from the town hall balcony. Arazuri, quoted by Ollaquindía, dates the custom to July 6, 1941, when the programme first had the rockets fired from the Casa del Ayuntamiento.12
Words of 1941
The paper called the opening rocket “el primer cohete de las Fiestas”, the first rocket of the fiesta.2
Photographs
The city’s photo archive, the Fototeca de Pamplona, holds historic photographs of the encierro, free to view online.13
The first rocket to open San Fermín from Pamplona’s town hall was fired at noon on July 6, 1941: José Joaquín Arazuri, quoted by Ollaquindía, dates the birth of what would later be called the chupinazo to the programme of 1941, on the initiative of Joaquín Ilundáin.12, 2
Joaquín Ilundáin, Pamplona’s first deputy mayor, lit the fuse of the first rocket fired from the town hall to open San Fermín, at noon on July 6, 1941, before an immense crowd in the Plaza Consistorial; the Diario de Navarra photographed him.2, 12
San Fermín 1941 had bull runs at seven in the morning on July 7, 8, 9 and 10, 1941, and on July 12 and 13, the last, when the eight Trespalacios bulls ran four on each day.1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9
The running of the bulls was the only outdoor event held on July 10, 1941, when storms washed out everything else: it was run under thunder and a terrible downpour, and the runners, the Diario de Navarra said, did not so much run as navigate the streets.6
A runner caught by a bull on July 12, 1941 was not seriously hurt, the Diario de Navarra said. The same morning a woman of 50 watching from a rooftop terrace in Estafeta leaned out too far, fell to the street and died.8
The signature on the San Fermín 1941 poster is not legible. It shows a big-head in a double-breasted coat carrying a mace beside a scene of runners falling before the bulls.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 1941: San Fermín in Pamplona.” Encierro.com, November 9, 2026. https://encierro.com/san-fermin-1941/