San Fermín 1956 had seven bull runs (encierros), at seven in the morning: July 7 to 11, Sunday, July 15, and July 18. After the second, the paper wrote that the huge crowd of runners and the absence of any mishap were “la mejor demostración de que el peligro en este emocionante espectáculo es remoto”, the best proof that the danger of this thrilling spectacle is remote.2, 7, 11, 12
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The mayor’s bando, agreed with the civil governor, set “los Encierros que han de celebrarse con motivo de las Fiestas de San Fermín, los días 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 y 15”, and warned that anyone who distracted the bulls “tanto en la calle como en la plaza será castigado con todo rigor”, in the street or in the ring, would be punished severely.2 A seventh run followed on July 18.12
Before the fiesta a visiting columnist noted a Pamplona saying: when someone is killed or hurt in the encierro, “trátase de un forastero que no sabe resguardarse”, it is an outsider who does not know how to look after himself.1
| Date | Run | Ranch (ganadería) | What the paper reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 7 | 1 | Sepúlveda de Yeltes | A fallen bull lifted by the young men |
| July 8 | 2 | Atanasio Fernández | A huge crowd; nothing unpleasant |
| July 9 | 3 | Juan Cobaleda | A bull ahead; a runner flat on the ground |
| July 10 | 4 | Conde de la Corte | Two groups of three |
| July 11 | 5 | Fernández Pacheco | Apart, with the usual frights |
| July 15 | 6 | Garci-Grande | A straggler took over Estafeta |
| July 18 | 7, last | Rosa González | Bulls apart the whole way; no serious harm |
Run 1 of 7
The bulls were those of Sepúlveda de Yeltes, of Salamanca.4 The emotion came when one of them fell in the ring and could not get up by itself: several young men rushed to put it on its feet, “agarrándolo de los cuernos, de las patas y de la cola”, grabbing it by the horns, the legs and the tail, and the bull did not hook at any of them, perhaps grateful for the help.5
Run 2 of 7
“A las siete en punto, previo el disparo de un chupinazo”, after a rocket, the bulls of Atanasio Fernández, of Salamanca, were released.6, 7 With such an enormous crowd of runners anyone might have feared a catastrophe, but nothing unpleasant happened, “y esta es la mejor demostración de que el peligro en este emocionante espectáculo es remoto”, all the more when the runners keep their calm. One bull lagged behind, spreading fear the whole way, while its five brothers went quickly to the corrals wrapped by the steers; soon after, the straggler made its own entrance, guided in by two men, the Chico de Olite and Pepe Alaiza.7, 11
Run 3 of 7
Far fewer young men ran than on Sunday, but they ran splendidly, without obstacles. It had its emotion, as almost every encierro does: a fine bull of Juan Cobaleda went ahead, giving the runners many frights, and the biggest was for a tall young man who had to throw himself flat on the ground to escape its charge.3, 7
Run 4 of 7
In complete normality, one of the finest runs and full of emotion, because “los seis toros de la ganadería del Conde de la Corte debieron de reñir entre sí y se separaron en dos lotes de tres”: the six bulls must have quarrelled among themselves, and they covered the course in two groups of three, with many runners ahead of them and among them running with a good eye and calm, and with room to move, because the crowd had thinned.3, 10
Run 5 of 7
The animals announced, those of Núñez, had been replaced by others of the Pacheco herd of Salamanca, which the report called Fernández Pacheco. “Vinieron separados y dieron los correspondientes sustos a los mozos corredores”: they came apart and gave the runners the usual frights, but, as in every run so far, nothing went wrong, and they entered the ring in two groups.9
Run 6 of 7
After a pause the fiesta resumed on Sunday, with bulls mainly of the Vizconde de Garci-Grande, of Salamanca.8, 3 “El sexto encierro fue uno de los más emocionantes de este año porque un toro se quedó rezagado”: one bull fell behind and, alone, sent the runners flying, giving the biggest frights during the long time it was master of part of Estafeta and above all before the gate into the ring. The herdsmen worked hard and at great risk.11
Run 7 of 7, the last
The seventh run was one of real, intense emotion, because “los seis bichos de la ganadería de doña Rosa González, de El Escorial, hicieron el recorrido separados”, spreading alarm and giving the runners great frights the whole way. But the young men ran very well, with a good eye and calm, and though some felt the bulls’ “caresses” and their chilling snort, it went no further; the bulls entered the ring and then the pens “sin causar graves consecuencias”.12
Ollaquindía describes Balda’s 1956 poster as the sash: a red sash, tossed and wound around the dagger-sharp horn of a black bull, a reminder of the runners caught and carried hanging from that sharp hook. On July 15, 1933, he recalls, a bull caught a runner known as Carroza by his sash and carried him round the ring.14 See San Fermín 1933.
A Pamplona saying
In 1956 a visiting columnist reported the Pamplona saying that when someone is killed or hurt in the encierro, it is an outsider who does not know how to look after himself.1
Words of 1956
A herd that splits runs in “lotes”, groups. The bulls were “bichos”, and a bull left behind was rezagado.10, 11, 12
Photographs
The city’s photo archive, the Fototeca de Pamplona, holds historic photographs of the encierro, free to view online.15
San Fermín 1956 had seven bull runs, at seven in the morning, on July 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, Sunday, July 15, and July 18, 1956. The mayor’s bando set the first six and warned that anyone who distracted the bulls would be punished severely.2, 12
The 1956 running of the bulls passed without serious harm, as the Diario de Navarra told it. After the crowded run of July 8, 1956 it wrote that the absence of any mishap was “la mejor demostración de que el peligro en este emocionante espectáculo es remoto”, the best proof that the danger is remote.7, 12
In 1956 a visiting columnist noted a Pamplona saying: when someone is killed or hurt in the encierro, “trátase de un forastero que no sabe resguardarse”, it is an outsider who does not know how to look after himself.1
In the first running of the bulls of 1956, on July 7, a Sepúlveda de Yeltes bull fell in the ring and could not get up. Several young men rushed to lift it, “agarrándolo de los cuernos, de las patas y de la cola”, by the horns, legs and tail, and the bull hooked none of them.4, 5
The bulls of the 1956 running of the bulls came from Sepúlveda de Yeltes, Atanasio Fernández, Juan Cobaleda, the Conde de la Corte, the Pacheco herd of Salamanca in place of the Núñez bulls announced, the Vizconde de Garci-Grande, and Rosa González of El Escorial.4, 6, 3, 9, 12
Balda made the San Fermín 1956 poster: a red sash tossed and wound around the horn of a black bull. Ollaquindía reads it as a reminder of runners caught and carried on the horn, like the runner known as Carroza on July 15, 1933.14
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 1956: San Fermín in Pamplona.” Encierro.com, November 9, 2026. https://encierro.com/san-fermin-1956/