San Fermín 2006: The Running of the Bulls
July 6 to 14, 2006. The year Miura set the all-time speed record, 2 minutes and 13 seconds, that still stands today. Eight encierros, eight ganaderiías, every video, and the stories from a fiesta defined by the fastest bulls in the history of the course.
Looking Back at 2006
Looking back at 2006, this was the fiesta that produced the fastest encierro ever recorded, Miura’s closing run on July 14 in 2 minutes and 13 seconds, a record that still stands. I was not yet attending the fiesta in 2006, but as someone who has spent years studying the history of every run, that Miura morning occupies a particular place in the record: the fastest the course has ever been completed.
The 2006 lineup included Cebada Gago, Jandilla, and Fuente Ymbro, three ranches I have come to know well in the years since, alongside the Miura animals that would make history on the final morning.
Dennis Clancey, Founder, Encierro
The Year Miura Ran in 2:13
The defining moment of the 2006 fiesta came on the final morning, July 14, when the Miura herd completed the 849-meter course in 2 minutes and 13 seconds. It is the fastest encierro in documented history, a record that has not been broken in the two decades since. The Miura bulls covered the route from the Santo Domingo corrals to the bullring faster than any other herd before or since, a combination of their long stride, the way the animals ran grouped that morning, and conditions on the course that aligned in a way that simply has not been repeated.
The 2006 fiesta also marked the second year of Fuente Ymbro’s participation in Pamplona. The Seville ranch had debuted in 2005 and would go on to become a regular fixture in the program. Cebada Gago brought their reliably dangerous running, while Jandilla contributed the speed they are known for. The closing Miura run, however, is what makes 2006 permanent in the encierro record. Read every year in the full archive, or see how 2006 compares to 2007 and 2005.
2 minutes and 13 seconds, Miura on July 14, 2006. The fastest encierro in the documented history of the running of the bulls. The record still stands.
Every 2006 Encierro, Day by Day
Each run with its ganaderiía, time, horn injuries, and official video. The route runs approximately 849 meters from Santo Domingo to the ring; see the route map.
Fuente Ymbro
Fuente Ymbro opened the 2006 fiesta in just their second year of participation in Pamplona. The Seville ranch’s bulls ran fast and compact, giving the fiesta a clean opening morning. Fuente Ymbro would go on to become a reliable presence in the program across the following years.
Cebada Gago
Cebada Gago took the second morning with their characteristic aggression. The Saturday crowd, one of the largest of the fiesta, filled the route. Cebada Gago holds the record for total gorings in Pamplona across all their encierros, and the 2006 run added to that count.
Victoriano del Río
Victoriano del Río Cortés brought large, fast bulls for the third morning. The ranch from Coria del Río, Seville has a long history in Pamplona and their animals cover Estafeta at pace. The run passed without major incident on the third day of the fiesta.
Jandilla
Jandilla from Cádiz ran the fourth morning. The ranch is known for fast bulls that tend to separate from the herd, the most dangerous condition on the course. Their 2006 run produced gorings and the kind of pressure on Estafeta that Jandilla mornings typically deliver.
Núñez del Cuvillo
Núñez del Cuvillo from Cádiz provided the fifth morning. Their bulls run compactly with the steers and produce the fast, grouped conditions that experienced runners seek. The fifth day passed without the danger of the surrounding mornings.
Dolores Aguirre
Dolores Aguirre Ybarra ran the sixth morning. Their animals produced a contained run through the streets of the Casco Antiguo, and the day passed without the drama of some of the surrounding mornings in the week.
Marqués de Domecq
Marqués de Domecq ran the penultimate morning of the 2006 fiesta, a year before the ranch’s final appearance in Pamplona in 2007. The run passed without major incident, the crowd’s attention already turning toward the anticipated closing morning with Miura.
Miura All-Time Record
The fastest encierro in the documented history of the running of the bulls. Miura’s herd covered the 849-meter course in 2 minutes and 13 seconds on the closing morning of the 2006 fiesta. The record has not been broken since. No runners gored by horn in an otherwise clean and historically significant final morning.
The Stories the Numbers Leave Out
Official Poster: San Fermín 2006
Cartel: “El encierro” by Cristina Calvo Viñuela.
Graphic designer and painter Cristina Calvo Viñuela won the 2006 official poster competition with her work titled “El encierro.” The work was selected from 462 entries submitted to the annual competition organized by the Ayuntamiento de Pamplona.
2006 was the last year before the public-vote system was introduced, from 2008 onward, Pamplona citizens would vote directly from a shortlist to choose the winner. The 2006 poster was therefore among the last selected exclusively by jury.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, cartel archive
Pamplona’s annual concurso de carteles selected this as the official Sanfermines poster for 2006.
The City in 2006
The chupinazo opened the fiesta at noon on Thursday, July 6, 2006, with the traditional rocket fired from the balcony of the Plaza Consistorial. The nine days that followed carried the full program: eight morning encierros, eight afternoon corridas at the Plaza de Toros, the nightly fireworks competition, the daily dianas through the streets, and the round-the-clock activity of the peñas. At midnight on July 14, the candlelit Pobre de Mí in the Plaza del Castillo closed the celebrations, just as Miura’s bulls had closed the encierros twelve hours earlier with a run that would stand in the record for decades.
The 2006 poster competition, which Cristina Calvo Viñuela won with “El encierro,” attracted 462 entries and was judged under the traditional jury-selection system. The public-vote format introduced in 2008 was still two years away. The fiesta was broadcast on Spanish television and drew its usual international press attention, the closing Miura morning receiving particular coverage once the 2:13 time was confirmed.
How 2006 Came Together
The planning and key dates, kept on the record.
The winning poster “El encierro” by Cristina Calvo Viñuela was announced, selected from 462 entries by the official jury. It was among the last posters chosen under the jury-only system before the public-vote format was introduced in 2008.
Eight ranches confirmed for July 7–14: Fuente Ymbro, Cebada Gago, Victoriano del Río, Jandilla, Núñez del Cuvillo, Dolores Aguirre, Marqués de Domecq, and Miura. Fuente Ymbro ran for only their second year; Miura closed the fiesta for the eighth time in nine years.
Miura completed the 849-meter course in 2 minutes and 13 seconds, the fastest encierro in the documented history of the running of the bulls. No runners gored by horn. The record has not been broken since.
The chupinazo fired at noon from the Plaza Consistorial opened the fiesta. Nine days later, at midnight on July 14, Pobre de Mí closed it.
San Fermín 2006, Answered
Which ganaderiías ran in San Fermín 2006?
Eight ranches ran from July 7 to 14: Fuente Ymbro (July 7), Cebada Gago (July 8), Victoriano del Río (July 9), Jandilla (July 10), Núñez del Cuvillo (July 11), Dolores Aguirre (July 12), Marqués de Domecq (July 13), and Miura (July 14). Miura’s closing run set the all-time speed record.
What is the fastest encierro ever recorded?
The Miura encierro on July 14, 2006, completed in 2 minutes and 13 seconds. It is the fastest run in the documented history of the Pamplona encierro, covering the 849-meter course from the Santo Domingo corrals to the bullring. The record has not been broken since.
Was anyone killed in San Fermín 2006?
No. There were no fatalities in the 2006 encierros. The last death in the Pamplona running of the bulls was Daniel Jimeno Romero on July 10, 2009. No runner died in the course in 2006.
Who designed the 2006 San Fermín poster?
Cristina Calvo Viñuela designed the 2006 official poster, titled “El encierro.” Her work was selected from 462 entries by the official jury of the Ayuntamiento de Pamplona. It was among the last posters chosen under the jury-only system, the public-vote format was introduced in 2008.
Planning your own run?
2006 is the record. For what came next, see San Fermín 2007, or learn the route with the runners who have studied it longest.