San Fermín 1982: The Year the Encierro Went National
July 6 to 14, 1982. RTVE broadcast the San Fermín encierro live on Spanish national television for the first time, pulling the running of the bulls out of Pamplona's streets and into living rooms across the country.
Curated by Dennis Clancey
· Founder of Encierro, veteran bull runner
8
Encierros
0
Deaths
Looking Back at 1982
Dennis Clancey · Founder, Encierro
Looking back at 1982, it is hard to overstate what the RTVE live broadcast meant for the encierro. Until that July, the run was something you either witnessed in person or heard about secondhand. A radio description, a newspaper account, a postcard from a friend who had been to Pamplona. The television camera changed the equation entirely. For the first time, a family in Seville or Bilbao or Madrid could watch the gates open at Santo Domingo and see the bulls come around the curve at Mercaderes in something close to real time. The fiesta did not change, but its audience multiplied overnight.
Looking back at 1982, the timing also mattered. Spain was hosting the FIFA World Cup that summer, and the final in Madrid fell on July 11, the same day the Pablo Romero bulls ran the fifth encierro. On the street, the week was what it always is: eight ganaderías, Conde de la Corte on the first morning, Miura on the last, and no deaths.
Dennis Clancey, Founder, Encierro
1982 in contextThe Broadcast Milestone and the World Cup Summer
On July 7, 1982, RTVE broadcast the encierro live for the first time, showing viewers across Spain the specific grammar of the run: the anxious wait at the corral, the rocket that signals the bulls' release, the compression of runners through the narrow streets, and the final sprint into the Plaza de Toros.
The 1982 encierros ran from Wednesday, July 7 to Wednesday, July 14. Of the runs El País timed, the slowest was the opening Conde de la Corte run at 3 minutes 26 seconds and the fastest was Marqués de Domecq on July 13, at 2 minutes 35 seconds, with nobody treated. On July 12 El País counted nine injured in the Ortega Sánchez run, one of them seriously.
"The encierro had always belonged to those who could get to Pamplona. After 1982, it belonged to Spain."Morning by morning
Every 1982 Encierro, Day by Day
Each run with its ganadería. The route runs 848.6 meters from Santo Domingo to the ring. RTVE broadcast the encierro live for the first time on July 7, 1982.
Wed July 7 · First run
Conde de la Corte
El País reported five Conde de la Corte bulls covering the route in 3 minutes 26 seconds, with four injured. It was the first encierro RTVE broadcast live.
Fri July 9 · Third run
Samuel Flores
El País gave the Samuel Flores run a time of 3 minutes 8 seconds, with no serious injuries.
Sat July 10 · Fourth run
Hernández Barrera
Sun July 11 · Fifth run
Pablo Romero
The run fell on July 11, the day of the World Cup final in Madrid.
Mon July 12 · Sixth run
Ortega Sánchez
El País reported a run of 3 minutes 17 seconds with nine injured, one of them seriously.
Tue July 13 · Seventh run
Marqués de Domecq
El País gave the Domecq run 2 minutes 35 seconds, with nobody treated.
What the Record Remembers
Milestone
The Day the Encierro Went National
For decades, the encierro had been an event you attended or missed. RTVE’s decision to broadcast the 1982 encierro live changed that condition permanently. On the morning of July 7, viewers across Spain watched the Conde de la Corte bulls run the first encierro of the fiesta in real time; El País timed it at 3 minutes 26 seconds, with four injured.
Ganadería
Miura Closes 1982
The name Miura functions as shorthand for danger in the encierro world. In 1982, Miura closed the fiesta on July 14, and El País reported no serious injuries in that run.
Context
The World Cup Week
The 1982 FIFA World Cup ran from June 13 to July 11, with Spain as the host nation. By the time the chupinazo fired on July 6 to open San Fermín, the World Cup had entered its final days. The final was played in Madrid on July 11, the same day the Pablo Romero bulls ran the fifth encierro in Pamplona.
The Official CartelSan Fermín 1982: Official Cartel
Cartel 1982 by Javier Balda Berastegui.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, cartel archive
Beyond the runThe City in 1982
Pamplona in the summer of 1982 was a city with more eyes on it than usual. The World Cup had given Spain a sustained period of international visibility throughout June and into early July. The RTVE broadcast added a new layer to that attention, placing Pamplona on the national television schedule for the first time in the context of the encierro and introducing the fiesta to Spanish viewers who had no prior frame of reference for the streets, the bulls, or the runners.
The encierro, broadcast live on public television from July 7, ran eight mornings without a death. The chupinazo opened the fiesta on July 6, and the Pobre de Mí closed it at midnight on July 14, after Miura ran the last encierro.
The recordHow 1982 Came Together
Key facts in the 1982 fiesta, kept on the record.
6 July 1982
Chupinazo fires at noon, opening the 1982 San Fermín festival from the balcony of the Pamplona town hall.
7 July 1982
First run: Conde de la Corte bulls from Badajoz. RTVE broadcasts the encierro live on Spanish national television for the first time.
14 July 1982
Miura closes the 1982 fiesta. The Pobre de Mí closes the festival at midnight.
San Fermín 1982, Answered
When did RTVE first broadcast the encierro live on Spanish national television?
RTVE broadcast the San Fermín encierro live for the first time in 1982, beginning with the opening run on July 7.
What was significant about Miura closing the 1982 fiesta?
Miura closed the 1982 fiesta on July 14, and El País reported no serious injuries in that run. The claim that Miura then ran until 2000 without goring anyone is wrong: the Miura bull Hacinador gored a runner on July 7, 1996.
What major sporting event was happening in Spain during the 1982 San Fermín?
Spain hosted the 1982 FIFA World Cup, which ran from June 13 to July 11. The final was played in Madrid on July 11, three days before San Fermín closed, so the two events overlapped during the festival week.
What is the earliest video footage available of the 1982 encierro?
RTVE broadcast the July 7, 1982 opening run, with the Conde de la Corte bulls, live on national television: the first live television broadcast of the encierro.
Sources
Every fact on this page is checked against these sources. Where sources disagreed, the one closest to the day won.
- El País, "Un primer encierro rápido y limpio", 1982-07-08. elpais.com
- El País, "Los sanfermines llegan a las aglomeraciones del fin de semana sin incidentes graves", 1982-07-10. elpais.com
- El País, "Encierro peligroso, con un herido grave", 1982-07-13. elpais.com
- El País, "Hoy se corre el último encierro", 1982-07-14. elpais.com
- El País, "Los mejores encierros de los últimos años", 1982-07-15. elpais.com
- Panorama Audiovisual, "Tres decadas de los Sanfermines en Television Espanola", 2012-07-09. panoramaaudiovisual.com
- Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "Pamplona recordara los 16 fallecidos en la historia del encierro con adoquines". pamplona.es
- Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "Carteles de San Fermin". pamplona.es
- Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "The Chupinazo and the Pobre de Mi". pamplona.es
- RSSSF (Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation), "World Cup 1982 finals". rsssf.org
- Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "Encierro (turismo, French version)". pamplona.es
Planning your own run?
The 1982 festival sits between two years worth knowing: the 1981 edition that preceded RTVE's broadcast milestone, and the 1983 fiesta that ran for the first time with the encierro already established as national television. Explore those years to follow the thread of how the run changed in the years around 1982.