San Fermín 1972 · Pamplona, Spain

The Encierro
of 1972

Miura on the Feria del Toro poster. Encierros at seven in the morning.

Encierro.com · Historical Record

Encierro Deaths

7:00 AM

Start Time

1972

Year

Founder's Perspective

Looking Back at 1972

Dennis Clancey · Founder, Encierro.com

Hemingway had been dead for eleven years by July 1972, and Pamplona was still a destination for readers of The Sun Also Rises. The fiesta had become, in some sense, a global event dressed in local clothes.

On the route itself, calle Mercaderes got its old name back in 1972, after being called Doña Blanca de Navarra since 1916. The bulls still ran it at seven in the morning, two years before the start moved to eight.

Dennis Clancey, Founder · Encierro.com

Historical Context

San Fermín 1972

July 6 to 14, 1972.

The 1972 fiestas ran at 7:00 AM, the start time in place since 1924. The change to 8:00 AM would not come until 1974.

Miura bulls were in the 1972 Feria del Toro: the official poster lists Eduardo Miura with Juan Pedro Domecq, Urquijo de Federico and Pablo Romero, among others. It does not say which morning each ran.

The Eight Runs

Culture

Hemingway's Shadow

Eleven years after Ernest Hemingway's death, his 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises was still the primary reason many foreign visitors came to Pamplona.

Official Poster

Official: Cartel de San Fermín 1972

Fernando Maritorena designed the official poster for 1972, after Javier Cejuela in 1970 and 1971.

Artist: Fernando Maritorena

Year: 1972

Pamplona in 1972

The City and the Fiestas

The encierro at 7:00 AM in July 1972.

In July 1972, Pamplona was the capital of Navarra. The encierros ran at 7:00 AM, as they had since 1924. The shift to the current 8:00 AM start was still two years away. Runners would gather near the corrals of Santo Domingo, the rocket would sound, and the bulls would move.

Resources and Archives

Key Moments of San Fermín 1972

1972

Fernando Maritorena's poster was the official cartel for San Fermín 1972.

July 6, 1972

Chupinazo. The rocket fired from the balcony of Pamplona's city hall opens the fiestas. The streets of the old city fill.

July 14, 1972

Pobre de Mí. The final encierro runs in the morning. That night, the traditional farewell ceremony closes the fiestas until 1973.

Frequently Asked Questions

San Fermín 1972 FAQ

Which ganaderías ran in the 1972 encierros?

The 1972 Feria del Toro poster lists Eduardo Miura, Juan Pedro Domecq, Urquijo de Federico and Pablo Romero, among others. No source found gives the ganadería of each morning.

What is the Carriquiri prize?

The Carriquiri prize is awarded at the conclusion of the Feria del Toro in Pamplona to the best bull of the entire fair.

Were there any deaths in the 1972 encierros?

No deaths were recorded in the 1972 encierros.

Explore the Archive

San Fermín Through the Years

The encierro has run every July since the early modern period. Explore the years surrounding 1972 or browse the full historical archive.

On the record

Sources

Every fact on this page is checked against these sources. Where sources disagreed, the one closest to the day won.

Fundación Sancho el Sabio (Memoria Digital Vasca), "Feria del Toro [Material gráfico] : Pamplona, San Fermín 1972", 1972. memoriadigitalvasca.es
El Encierro (magazine) n56, via Dialnet, "Arquitecturas alrededor del encierro (Javier Torrens Alzu)", 2020-06. dialnet.unirioja.es
Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "Pamplona recordara a los 16 fallecidos en la historia del encierro con adoquines", 2023-12-27. pamplona.es
Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "Carteles de San Fermin (official poster archive)". pamplona.es

Walk the route with people who run it

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The Encierroof 1972

Looking Back at 1972

San Fermín 1972

Encierros, July 7-14, 1972

Opening Encierro

Second Encierro

Third Encierro

Fourth Encierro

Fifth Encierro

Sixth Encierro

Seventh Encierro

Closing Encierro

Hemingway's Shadow in 1972