San Fermín 1987: Eight Runs and Zero Deaths
July 6 to 14, 1987. Arauz de Robles opening, Cebada Gago on July 9, and a Pablo Romero bull of 670 kilos on July 11.
Curated by Dennis Clancey
· Founder of Encierro, veteran bull runner
8
Encierros
0
Deaths
Looking Back at 1987
Dennis Clancey · Founder, Encierro
Looking back at 1987, the ganadería lineup tells a story of its own: a classic rotation of ranches, opened by Arauz de Robles and closed by Miura. What stands out from the record is how the week unfolded without a fatality, even with Cebada Gago on the card.
Runners in 1987 who paid attention to the Cebada Gago bulls were watching the early chapter of a ganadería that Onda Vasca now describes as the one that has left the most gorings in the encierro. No single run defined the year. It holds up as a solid Pamplona week: four gored on July 8, a serious goring in the ring on July 10, and a fast Miura run without consequences to close.
Dennis Clancey, Founder, Encierro
1987 in contextThe Encierro in 1987
Eight ganaderías ran in 1987, from Arauz de Robles on July 7 to Miura on July 14. El País timed the opening run at 2 minutes 12 seconds with no one gored, reported four people gored, one of them seriously, in the Guardiola Fantoni run of July 8, and on July 10 reported Pablo Osa Aizpurúa, 31, seriously gored in the ring by an Osborne bull. No one died.
The Cebada Gago bulls ran the third encierro, on July 9; El País reported six bulls, two of them lagging behind, and no serious incidents. The Portuguese ganadería Murteira ran the sixth, on July 12.
Morning by morningEvery 1987 Encierro, Day by Day
Each run with its ganadería. The route runs 848.6 meters from Santo Domingo to the ring.
Tue July 7 · First run
Arauz de Robles
El País reported six Arauz de Robles bulls covering the route in 2 minutes 12 seconds, with no one gored.
Wed July 8 · Second run
Guardiola Fantoni
El País reported four people gored, one of them seriously.
Thu July 9 · Third run
Cebada Gago
El País reported six José Cebada Gago bulls and no serious incidents, with two bulls lagging behind.
Fri July 10 · Fourth run
Osborne
El País reported Pablo Osa Aizpurúa, 31, seriously gored in the ring by an Osborne bull, and a second runner gored.
Sat July 11 · Fifth run
Pablo Romero
El País reported six huge Pablo Romero bulls, one of them weighing 670 kilos.
Mon July 13 · Seventh run
Marqués de Domecq
El País reported a runner wrestling a Domecq bull that tried to catch him in the callejón; he was not harmed.
What the Record Remembers
Ganadería History
Cebada Gago in 1987
In 1987, El País reported six of its bulls in the July 9 run, with no serious incidents. Onda Vasca now describes Cebada Gago as the ganadería that has left the most gorings in the encierro.
Opening Day
Arauz de Robles and the Weight of July 7
Arauz de Robles drew the opening slot in 1987, replacing a lot from Salvador Domecq. El País reported a fast, clean run of 2 minutes 12 seconds.
Bulls
A Pablo Romero of 670 Kilos
The fifth encierro, on Saturday, July 11, brought six Pablo Romero bulls that El País described as huge, one of them weighing 670 kilos. Two mornings later, on July 13, a runner wrestled a Marqués de Domecq bull that tried to catch him in the callejón, and he was not harmed, El País reported.
Official Poster of 1987San Fermín 1987 Official Poster
Cartel 1987 by J. Oyarzun Echandi.
J. Oyarzun Echandi followed Xabier Idoate Iribarren, who made the 1985 and 1986 cartels.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, cartel archive
Beyond the runThe City in 1987
The chupinazo opened the 1987 fiesta at noon on July 6, and the encierros ran every morning from July 7 to July 14 on the 848.6 meters from Santo Domingo to the ring.
El País closed its coverage under the headline “Finalizan unos plácidos sanfermines”, placid sanfermines, after a closing Miura run it described as fast and without consequences. The Pobre de Mí at midnight on July 14 ended the fiesta.
The recordHow 1987 Came Together
Key facts in the 1987 fiesta, kept on the record.
6 July 1987
The opening ceremony, the Chupinazo, fires from the Pamplona town hall balcony at noon, officially beginning the 1987 Sanfermines.
9 July 1987
Cebada Gago runs the third encierro. El País reports no serious incidents.
12 July 1987
The Portuguese Murteira ganadería runs the sixth encierro.
14 July 1987
Miura closes the 1987 fiesta with a fast run without consequences (El País).
San Fermín 1987, Answered
Which ganadería ran on July 9, 1987?
Cebada Gago ran the third encierro of the 1987 fiesta. El País reported six of its bulls and no serious incidents.
Did anyone die in the 1987 San Fermín encierro?
No. The eight runs of 1987 produced no fatalities.
What made the 1987 Miura run significant?
Miura ran the final encierro of the 1987 fiesta, on July 14, and El País described it as fast and without consequences. The claim that Miura ran from 1982 to 2000 without goring anyone is wrong: the Miura bull Hacinador gored a runner on July 7, 1996.
Where can I watch footage from the 1987 encierros?
Archival uploads of 1987 encierros appear on YouTube, but we have not yet matched them to specific runs.
Sources
Every fact on this page is checked against these sources. Where sources disagreed, the one closest to the day won.
- El País, "Miles de personas llegan a Pamplona para terminar los sanfermines", 1985-07-13. elpais.com
- El País, "La primera carrera de los encierros de Pamplona fue rápida y limpia", 1987-07-08. elpais.com
- El País, "Sigue grave el corredor herido en el segundo encierro", 1987-07-09. elpais.com
- El País, "Encierro sin percances graves", 1987-07-10. elpais.com
- El País, "Un herido grave en el cuarto encierro", 1987-07-11. elpais.com
- El País, "Los mozos triplican sus pulsaciones antes del encierro", 1987-07-12. elpais.com
- El País, "Un corredor luchó con un toro que quería cogerle en el callejón", 1987-07-14. elpais.com
- El País, "Finalizan unos plácidos sanfermines", 1987-07-15. elpais.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
- Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "Encierro (turismo, French version)". pamplona.es
Planning your own run?
The 1986 fiesta brought its own cast of ganaderías through the streets of Pamplona, and 1988 followed with a Cebada Gago run of 7 minutes 47 seconds.