San Fermín 1991: Miura closed the fiesta with a fast run on the final morning
July 6 to 14, 1991. Eight encierros at 8:00am, a week that ended with Miura’s closing run.
Curated by Dennis Clancey
· Founder of Encierro, veteran bull runner
8
Encierros
0
Deaths
Looking Back at 1991
Dennis Clancey · Founder, Encierro
Looking back at 1991, the encierro ran at 8am, as it had since 1974. What made 1991 notable was Miura in the closing slot, the finale that many runners and watchers considered the natural endpoint of the week. El País reported gorings in four of the eight runs, and every year at Pamplona means eight mornings of concentrated risk on a cobbled street with animals that weigh half a ton.
The Marqués de Albaserrada bulls came back on July 10, absent from Pamplona since 1983, and ran fast and clean. Three days later the Marqués de Domecq run seriously gored three runners, among them the critic Ignacio Álvarez Vara, Barquerito, according to El País.
Dennis Clancey, Founder, Encierro
1991 in contextMiura on the Final Morning
In 1991 the encierro ran at 8am, as it had since 1974. Miura ran the closing encierro on July 14.
Conde de la Corte opened the week on July 7, and Osborne ran the fifth morning in 3 minutes 50 seconds with no one gored, according to El País.
"When Miura closes on the fourteenth, the whole week points somewhere. Every other morning is buildup. The last run is what people remember."Morning by morning
Every 1991 Encierro, Day by Day
Each run with its ganadería. The route runs 848.6 meters from Santo Domingo to the ring.
Sun July 7 · First run
Conde de la Corte
Conde de la Corte from Badajoz opened the 1991 fiesta on Sunday, July 7. El País reported one runner, Enrique Chico Navarro, 37, gored in the abdomen.
Mon July 8 · Second run
Guardiola Fantoni
El País reported the Swedish runner Torlly Urban, 23, gored by the bull Soltero and left in extremely grave condition, and a second runner seriously gored.
Wed July 10 · Fourth run
Albaserrada
El País reported a fast, clean run by the Marqués de Albaserrada bulls, absent from Pamplona since 1983.
Thu July 11 · Fifth run
Osborne
El País reported a clean run by the bulls of the heirs of José Osborne, 3 minutes 50 seconds, with no one gored and five people hurt by knocks.
Fri July 12 · Sixth run
Sepúlveda
El País reported two runners gored by the Salamanca bulls.
Sat July 13 · Seventh run
Marqués de Domecq
El País reported three runners seriously gored, among them the critic Ignacio Álvarez Vara, Barquerito.
What the Record Remembers
Ganadería
Miura Closes 1991
Miura ran the closing encierro on July 14, 1991, a fast run of 2 minutes 57 seconds according to El País.
Danger
Soltero and the Second Morning
On July 8, 1991, El País reported the Swedish runner Torlly Urban, 23, gored by the Guardiola bull Soltero and left in extremely grave condition. A second runner was seriously gored in the same run.
Tradition
Cebada Gago’s Mid-Week Slot and What It Already Meant
Cebada Gago ran the third encierro on July 9, 1991; El País reported six of its bulls and no horn wounds. Onda Vasca now describes Cebada Gago as the ganadería that has left the most gorings in the encierro.
Official Poster of 1991Official Sanfermines Poster, 1991
Cartel 1991 by Vicente Marcos Ortiz.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, cartel archive
Beyond the runThe City in 1991
Pamplona in July 1991 ran its encierros at 8am, the hour in place since 1974.
The chupinazo opened the fiesta at noon on July 6, and the Pobre de Mí at midnight on July 14 closed it after Miura had run their eighth and final encierro of the week.
The recordHow 1991 Came Together
Key facts in the 1991 fiesta, kept on the record.
6 July 1991
The chupinazo rocket fires from the Town Hall balcony, opening the 1991 fiesta and sending the crowd in the Plaza Consistorial into the traditional white-and-red celebration.
7 July 1991
Conde de la Corte opens the fiesta in the first encierro, setting the tone for a week that will end with Miura.
9 July 1991
Cebada Gago runs the third encierro; El País reports no horn wounds.
14 July 1991
Miura closes the 1991 fiesta in the eighth and final encierro. El País gives the run 2 minutes 57 seconds. The Pobre de Mí at midnight ends the fiesta.
San Fermín 1991, Answered
Which ganadería closed the 1991 fiesta and why does the closing slot matter?
Miura closed the 1991 fiesta on July 14, running the eighth and final encierro in 2 minutes 57 seconds, according to El País.
Where did Cebada Gago run in 1991?
Cebada Gago ran the third encierro on Tuesday, July 9. El País reported six of its bulls and no horn wounds.
How many runners were gored in 1991?
El País reported gorings in four runs: one on July 7, two on July 8, two on July 12 and three on July 13. It gives no total for the week.
Sources
Every fact on this page is checked against these sources. Where sources disagreed, the one closest to the day won.
- El País, "Un herido en el primer encierro", 1991-07-08. elpais.com
- El País, "Cogida estremecedora en los sanfermines (portada)", 1991-07-09. elpais.com
- El País, "Dos heridos en el tercer encierro", 1991-07-10. elpais.com
- El País, "Encierro rápido de los albacerradas", 1991-07-11. elpais.com
- El País, "Los 'osbornes' no cornearon a nadie", 1991-07-12. elpais.com
- El País, "Los sepúlvedas cornearon a dos corredores", 1991-07-13. elpais.com
- El País, "Tres heridos graves en el penúltimo encierro", 1991-07-14. elpais.com
- El País, "Rapidez y nobleza en el último encierro", 1991-07-15. elpais.com
- El País, "(daily encierro reports 8 to 15 July 1991)", 1991-07-15. elpais.com
- Público, "La víctima número 15 en la historia de los Sanfermines", 2009-07-10. publico.es
- Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "Encierro (turismo, French version)". pamplona.es
- Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "Carteles de San Fermin". pamplona.es
Planning your own run?
For the full picture of how 1991 fits into the early-decade sequence, see San Fermín 1992, the year Miura ran sixth, or explore the route with the runners who have studied it longest.