San Fermín 2004: The Running of the Bulls
July 6 to 14, 2004. The year Jandilla set the all-time record with eight runners gored in a single encierro. Eight mornings, eight ganadérias, and a day that still defines the modern standard for danger on the course.
Looking Back at 2004
Looking back at 2004, the year is defined entirely by one morning: July 12, Jandilla, and eight runners gored in a single encierro. That is the all-time record for gorings in one run and it still stands. The jam at the access to the bullring caused a pile-up, and the bulls found people on the ground. The veteran runner Julen Madina alone received five horn wounds that morning. It was the kind of day that makes the rest of the fiesta feel almost secondary by comparison.
The 2004 program was otherwise a strong representative lineup, Torrestrella, Cebada Gago, Núñez del Cuvillo, Dolores Aguirre, Miura, Jandilla, Marqués de Domecq and Juan Pedro Domecq. A fiesta bookmarked by serious ganadérias and a central morning that put eight names in the record books at once.
Dennis Clancey, Founder, Encierro
The Day Jandilla Set the Record
The most dangerous single encierro in documented modern history occurred on July 12, 2004. The Jandilla herd caused a pile-up at the access to the bullring, and in the chaos that followed, eight runners were gored by horn, a record that had never been reached before and has since been equalled only once (Marqués de Domecq, July 12, 2007). The renowned Pamplona runner Julen Madina alone sustained five horn wounds in that single run, the most by any individual in a single encierro in the modern era.
Jandilla, a Benaños ranch operating since the 1980s, had been a fixture of the Pamplona programme since their return to the course in 1997. By 2004 they had already established a reputation for producing runs with multiple gorings. The July 12 morning confirmed that reputation in the most dramatic fashion possible. No deaths resulted from the 2004 fiesta, but the toll of horn wounds, concentrated almost entirely on that single Wednesday morning, made 2004 one of the most dangerous fiestas since comprehensive records began. See all years in the full archive.
Eight runners gored in one morning. Julen Madina alone received five horn wounds from the Jandilla bulls on July 12, 2004.
Every 2004 Encierro, Day by Day
Eight runs, July 7–14, 2004. The route runs approximately 849 metres from Santo Domingo to the bull ring. See the route map.
Torrestrella
The 2004 fiesta opened with bulls from Torrestrella, the ranch of Álvaro Domecq Diez. Known for their Domecq bloodline combining speed and size, Torrestrella provided a strong, clean opener, no one in the crowd could have anticipated what the following days would contain.
Cebada Gago
Cebada Gago, the ganadería with the highest gorings-per-encierro average in the Pamplona record, ran the second morning, one year after their fatal July 8 appearance in 2003 that killed Fermín Etxeberria. A rare zero-goring result for this ranch.
Núñez del Cuvillo
Núñez del Cuvillo, a ranch from El Puerto de Santa María in Cádiz, ran the third morning. Their bulls are known for speed and cohesion as a herd. Three mornings into the fiesta with no gorings, before the danger concentrated in a single catastrophic morning ahead.
Dolores Aguirre
Dolores Aguirre Ybarra, the Navarra ranch known for producing large and powerful bulls, ran the fourth morning with four horn gorings, a dangerous Saturday that served as the first major warning of the week’s character, until the extraordinary events of July 12.
Miura
Miura ran the fifth morning, placed mid-week rather than in their traditional closing slot. The Sevilla ranch’s animals remained among the most feared on the course for their size and independent temperament. The 2004 Miura run passed without horn gorings, the city still unaware of what the following Monday would bring.
Jandilla
The most dangerous single encierro in the documented modern history of San Fermín. A pile-up at the access to the bullring left multiple runners on the ground, and the Jandilla bulls gored eight of them, an all-time record that still stands. Veteran runner Julen Madina alone sustained five separate horn wounds in that single morning, the most by any individual in a single encierro in the modern era. The record has been equalled only once: Marqués de Domecq on July 12, 2007.
Marqués de Domecq
Marqués de Domecq, a ranch that would itself set the eight-gored record in 2007, ran the seventh morning, one day after the Jandilla record. A clean run in difficult circumstances.
Juan Pedro Domecq
Juan Pedro Domecq closed the 2004 fiesta. The Pobre de Mí ended a fiesta defined entirely by the Jandilla record of two days earlier, studied by encierro historians ever since.
The Stories the Numbers Leave Out
The Official San Fermín 2004 Poster
Cartel: “Pop” by Mikel Urmeneta Ochoa and Marta Coronado Hernández.
The 2004 San Fermín poster was designed by Mikel Urmeneta Ochoa and Marta Coronado Hernández, working together under the title “Pop.” Urmeneta had previously won the poster competition in 1990 as a solo artist, making 2004 his second winning entry and his first as a collaboration. The design brought a contemporary graphic sensibility to the fiesta’s visual tradition.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, cartel archive
Selected as the official poster of Sanfermines 2004 through Pamplona’s annual concurso de carteles.
The City in 2004
The chupinazo opened the 2004 fiesta at noon on Monday, July 6, in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. The nine days of the fiesta included the customary programme of Feria del Toro bullfights, the daily encierrillo the evening before each morning’s run, and the outdoor concerts and peñas celebrations that fill the city every July.
The July 12 events dominated the post-fiesta coverage in the national Spanish press and in international media. Sanidad Navarra’s medical teams at the enferméria of the Plaza de Toros and along the route treated injuries throughout the eight mornings. The fiesta closed at midnight on July 14 with the Pobre de Mí in the Plaza del Castillo, the candlelit ceremony that has ended every San Fermín since the tradition was established.
How 2004 Came Together
The planning and key dates, kept on the record.
The winning poster “Pop” by Mikel Urmeneta Ochoa and Marta Coronado Hernández was announced. The eight ganadérias were confirmed: Torrestrella, Cebada Gago, Núñez del Cuvillo, Dolores Aguirre, Miura, Jandilla, Marqués de Domecq and Juan Pedro Domecq.
The chupinazo opened the 2004 fiesta at noon in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. Installation of the vallado along the encierro route had been completed in the days prior.
The Dolores Aguirre run produced four gorings, marking one of the more dangerous days of the first half of the fiesta.
The Jandilla encierro produced eight horn gorings, an all-time single-run record. Veteran runner Julen Madina received five wounds alone. A pile-up at the bullring access concentrated the danger. The record has since been equalled only by the Marqués de Domecq run on July 12, 2007.
Juan Pedro Domecq closed the 2004 fiesta. At midnight, the Pobre de Mí ceremony in the Plaza del Castillo ended the ninth day of San Fermín.
San Fermín 2004, Answered
How many runners were gored in the July 12, 2004 Jandilla encierro?
Eight runners were gored in the July 12, 2004 Jandilla encierro, the all-time record for the most gorings in a single Pamplona encierro. The record has since been equalled only once, by the Marqués de Domecq run on July 12, 2007. Veteran Pamplona runner Julen Madina alone sustained five horn wounds in that single morning.
Which ganadérias ran in the 2004 San Fermín encierro?
The eight ganadérias were: Torrestrella (July 7), Cebada Gago (July 8), Núñez del Cuvillo (July 9), Dolores Aguirre (July 10), Miura (July 11), Jandilla (July 12), Marqués de Domecq (July 13), and Juan Pedro Domecq (July 14).
Was anyone killed in San Fermín 2004?
No. Despite the record eight gorings on July 12, the 2004 fiesta produced no deaths. This followed the death of Fermín Etxeberria Irañeta in 2003. The last confirmed death in the Pamplona encierro before 2004 was Etxeberria, who died in September 2003 from injuries sustained on July 8 of that year.
Why is the 2004 Jandilla encierro significant in encierro history?
The July 12, 2004 Jandilla run holds the record for the most gorings in a single encierro in the documented modern era, eight. The cause was a pile-up at the access to the bullring that left runners on the ground and unable to evade the bulls. The record is a benchmark that encierro historians, runners and analysts return to when assessing the dangers of any particularly dangerous morning.
Planning your own run?
2004 is part of the record. For what came before, see San Fermín 2003, or explore San Fermín 2005.