San Fermín 1962: The Running of the Bulls
July 6 to 14, 1962. The birth of a ritual. This year runners first sang A San Fermín pedimos, the pre-run prayer that has opened every encierro since.
Curated by Dennis Clancey
· Founder of Encierro, veteran bull runner
1962
Year
7 a.m.
Run Time
Looking Back at 1962
Dennis Clancey · Founder, Encierro
Looking back at 1962, the defining moment of the year was not a goring or a death but the birth of a ritual that now feels as old as the fiesta itself. In 1962, a few runners sang before a small figure of San Fermín in a niche on the wall of the old Hospital Militar on the Cuesta de Santo Domingo: “A San Fermín pedimos / por ser nuestro patrón / nos guíe en el encierro / dándonos su bendición.” Among the promoters of the cántico was a 31-year-old Pamplona native, Jesús Ilundáin, known as El Tuli, later member number one of peña Los de Bronce. No one would have predicted that this small act would become the immovable ritual that opens every encierro today.
The prayer itself came from the hymn of peña La Única, with music by the maestro Turrillas, and recorded in 1956. What those runners did was transplant it to the start of the run, in front of the saint, at the most dangerous point of the course, and in doing so created something the fiesta had not had before: a moment of collective supplication before the bulls moved. The runners ask. The saint listens, or does not. And then the rocket fires.
The encierros still ran at seven in the morning. But what mattered most about 1962 was what a few runners did before one run, and what it became.
Dennis Clancey, Founder, Encierro
1962 in contextThe Year a Prayer Was Born
The 1962 fiesta opened on July 6 with the traditional chupinazo and ran through July 14. The runs took place at 7 a.m., as they had since 1924. The defining moment of the fiesta year came before an encierro, when a few runners first sang, before a figure of San Fermín in a niche on the wall of the old Hospital Militar on the Cuesta de Santo Domingo, the prayer that would become the encierro’s defining pre-run ritual. Among the promoters of the cántico was Jesús Ilundáin, known as “El Tuli,” a 31-year-old Pamplona native, later member number one of peña Los de Bronce.
The national bullfighting regulations changed in 1962, and the Casa de Misericordia paid a premium for bulls with all eight permanent teeth, which then meant 20 percent over the agreed price.
A few runners sang to the saint at a niche on the old Hospital Militar wall. Nobody knew yet that they had just created the ritual that would open every encierro after.Morning by morning
Every 1962 Encierro, Day by Day
The route runs 848.6 metres from Santo Domingo to the bullring.
Sat July 7 · First run
Fermín Bohórquez
A young woman, described as Mexican, ran the encierro on 7 July and entered the bullring; Diario de Navarra noted that women were barred by law.
Sun July 8 · Second run
Pablo Romero
Mon July 9 · Third run
Conde de la Corte
Tue July 10 · Fourth run
Marqués de Domecq
Wed July 11 · Fifth run
Garcigrande
One Garcigrande bull was injured in the encierro and could not be fought that afternoon.
Thu July 12 · Sixth run
Álvaro Domecq
Fri July 13 · Seventh run
Marqués de Guadalest (Ricardo Arellano Gamero-Cívico)
Sat July 14 · No encierro
No encierro on July 14
Diario de Navarra reported the 13 July run as the seventh and last encierro.
The Official San Fermín 1962 Poster
Cartel 1962 by Alonso Astarloa.
The recordHow 1962 Came Together
The planning and key dates, kept on the record.
1962
The cartel by José Manuel Alonso Astarloa was confirmed for the fiesta. The Casa de Misericordia agreed to pay a premium for fully mature bulls under the revised national taurino regulations.
6 July 1962
The chupinazo opened the fiesta at noon in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. The first encierro was to follow the next morning at 7 a.m.
July 1962
A few runners first sang A San Fermín pedimos at the Cuesta de Santo Domingo.
14 July 1962
At midnight, the Pobre de Mí ceremony closed the celebration.
San Fermín 1962, Answered
Who started the “A San Fermín pedimos” prayer tradition?
A few runners first sang it before the encierro in 1962, before a figure of San Fermín in a niche on the wall of the old Hospital Militar on the Cuesta de Santo Domingo. Jesús Ilundáin, known as “El Tuli,” a Pamplona native and later member number one of peña Los de Bronce, was one of the promoters of the cántico.
What time did the encierros run in 1962?
The encierros ran at 7 a.m. in 1962, as they had since 1924. The start time was not moved to 8 a.m. until 1974.
Sources
Every fact on this page is checked against these sources. Where sources disagreed, the one closest to the day won.
- OKDiario Navarra, "El Tuli, a falta de minutos para el Chupinazo (entrevista)", 2016-07-05. navarra.okdiario.com
- Dialnet (Jesús Mª Macaya Floristán), "La música popular en las fiestas de San Fermín", 2020-06. dialnet.unirioja.es
- El Encierro (magazine) n56, via Dialnet, "Arquitecturas alrededor del encierro (Javier Torrens Alzu)", 2020-06. dialnet.unirioja.es
- Onda Vasca / Noticias de Navarra, "Homenaje a los impulsores del cántico de San Fermín", 2022-06-25. ondavasca.com
- Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "Pamplona recordará a los 16 fallecidos en la historia del encierro con adoquines", 2023-12-27. pamplona.es
- Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "The Encierro (Bullrun)". pamplona.es
- Feria del Toro (Casa de Misericordia, official), "Historia de la Feria". feriadeltoro.com
- Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "Carteles de San Fermín (cartel archive)". pamplona.es
- Diario de Navarra, "page 16", 8 July 1962. hemerotecadigital.bne.es
- Diario de Navarra, "page 7", 12 July 1962. hemerotecadigital.bne.es
- Diario de Navarra, "page 12", 13 July 1962. hemerotecadigital.bne.es
What came next
For what followed, see San Fermín 1963, or explore the full 1960s archive.