San Fermín 2007: The Running of the Bulls
July 6 to 14, 2007. The year the Marqués de Domecq set the record for gorings in a single encierro, eight in one morning. Eight encierros, eight ganaderiías, every video, and the stories from a fiesta defined by one extraordinary July 12.
What 2007 Was Really Like
2007 was among my earliest years at the fiesta, part of that initial stretch when I was learning what the encierro actually is, not as a spectacle but as a daily event with its own logic and rhythm. I can place myself in Pamplona that July, in the streets and the energy of it, though I’ll leave the specifics to the record rather than to memory at this distance.
What the record shows is that July 12 that year was one of the most dangerous single mornings in the modern history of the encierro. A lone bull from the Marqués de Domecq herd separated at the top of Santo Domingo and ran most of the course alone, finding runners all the way to the calejón. Eight gored in one run, tying the all-time record. I was there for a fiesta that included that morning.
Dennis Clancey, Founder, Encierro
The Morning That Tied the Record
The sixth encierro of 2007, on July 12, produced the most dangerous single morning in the recent record of the event. A bull from Marqués de Domecq separated at the top of the Santo Domingo slope and ran the remainder of the course alone, charging runners along Estafeta and into the calejón. By the time the run ended, eight runners had been gored, tying the all-time record for gorings in a single encierro, shared with the Jandilla run of July 12, 2004. Three of those gored sustained serious injuries, one runner in the abdomen. The run lasted 6 minutes and 9 seconds, making it one of the longest of the decade.
The fifth encierro, a day earlier on July 11 with Jandilla, had also been fast and demanding: a chestnut bull charged runners on the right wall at the start of Mercaderes, and a stray bull worked through Estafeta, trapping runners against the barriers. The two middle days of the 2007 fiesta together constituted the most concentrated danger of any consecutive pair in recent years. Read every year in the full archive, or see how 2007 compares to 2006 and 2008.
Eight gored in one run on July 12, the Marqués de Domecq morning tied the all-time single-encierro record, shared with Jandilla in 2004.
Every 2007 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 2007 fiesta. The Seville ranch, which had debuted in Pamplona in 2005, brought fast, compact bulls for the first morning. The opener produced no major incidents, giving the fiesta a clean start that gave no indication of what July 12 would bring.
Cebada Gago
Cebada Gago took the second morning. Historically the ganaderiía with the highest total gorings in Pamplona, their bulls produced the sharp, aggressive running that defines most Cebada Gago mornings. Runners in Estafeta faced pressure through most of the route.
Victoriano del Río
Victoriano del Río Cortés ran the third morning. The ranch from Coria del Río, Seville produces large, fast bulls well-suited to the Estafeta stretch. The run passed without the serious incidents that would define the week’s second half.
Núñez del Cuvillo
Núñez del Cuvillo from Cádiz ran the fourth morning. Their animals are known for running well-grouped with the steers, producing fast, compact conditions that experienced runners generally rate as among the most rewarding mornings on the course.
Jandilla
A fast and dangerous morning. A chestnut bull charged runners on the right wall at the start of Mercaderes, and a stray bull worked through Estafeta, trapping a runner against the barrier and attempting to gore him. One runner gored. The run foreshadowed the violence of the following morning.
Marqués de Domecq
The most dangerous encierro in recent memory. A bull separated at the top of Santo Domingo and ran the entire course alone, goring eight runners, tying the all-time single-encierro record shared with Jandilla in 2004. Three serious injuries, one runner gored in the abdomen on Estafeta. The run lasted 6 minutes 9 seconds.
Dolores Aguirre
Dolores Aguirre Ybarra ran the penultimate morning, the day after the record-setting Marqués de Domecq run. The crowd on the route was attentive and cautious. The run passed without the drama of the previous morning, giving the fiesta a quieter second-to-last day.
Miura
Miura closed the 2007 fiesta as they have done across many consecutive years. The Seville ranch’s large, fast animals drew the most experienced runners to the closing morning. After the severity of July 12, the final run passed without additional major incidents.
The Stories the Numbers Leave Out
The 2007 Sanfermines Official Cartel
Cartel: “Toro-Lija” by Javier Morón Belso.
Javier Morón Belso, a graphic designer working from the Franziska studio, created the 2007 winning poster. The work titled “Toro-Lija” was selected by the official jury of the Ayuntamiento de Pamplona from among the works submitted in the annual competition, the last year before the public-vote system was introduced in 2008.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, cartel archive
Named the official cartel of San Fermín 2007 after winning the Ayuntamiento’s annual poster contest.
The City in 2007
The chupinazo opened the fiesta at noon on Friday, July 6, 2007, with the traditional rocket fired from the balcony of the Plaza Consistorial. The program ran for nine days: eight morning encierros, eight afternoon corridas at the Plaza de Toros, the nightly fireworks competition, the daily dianas through the streets at dawn, and the continuous activity of the peñas through every night of the fiesta. At midnight on July 14, the candlelit Pobre de Mí in the Plaza del Castillo closed the celebrations as it does every year.
2007 was also the final year the official poster was chosen solely by jury. Starting with the 2008 edition, Pamplona introduced a public vote to select the winner from a shortlisted set. The 2007 poster, Javier Morón Belso’s “Toro-Lija”, was therefore the last cartel selected under the old system.
How 2007 Came Together
The planning and key dates, kept on the record.
The winning poster “Toro-Lija” by Javier Morón Belso was announced. It was the last San Fermín poster selected exclusively by jury before the public-vote system was introduced in 2008.
Eight ranches confirmed for July 7–14: Fuente Ymbro, Cebada Gago, Victoriano del Río, Núñez del Cuvillo, Jandilla, Marqués de Domecq, Dolores Aguirre, and Miura. It was the final appearance of Marqués de Domecq in Pamplona.
The Marqués de Domecq encierro produced eight gorings in a single run, tying the all-time record shared with Jandilla on July 12, 2004. One bull separated at Santo Domingo and ran the course alone for 6 minutes and 9 seconds. Three runners sustained serious injuries.
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 2007, Answered
How many runners were gored in San Fermín 2007?
The total for the fiesta was approximately 14 gorings across all eight encierros, with eight of those coming in a single morning, the Marqués de Domecq run on July 12, which tied the all-time record for gorings in a single encierro. Three of the eight gored that morning sustained serious injuries.
Which ganaderiías ran in San Fermín 2007?
Eight ranches ran from July 7 to 14: Fuente Ymbro (July 7), Cebada Gago (July 8), Victoriano del Río (July 9), Núñez del Cuvillo (July 10), Jandilla (July 11), Marqués de Domecq (July 12), Dolores Aguirre (July 13), and Miura (July 14).
Was anyone killed in San Fermín 2007?
No. There were no fatalities in the 2007 encierros. Despite eight runners being gored on July 12, all survived. The last death in the Pamplona running of the bulls was Daniel Jimeno Romero on July 10, 2009.
Why was the Marqués de Domecq run on July 12, 2007 significant?
It was the most dangerous single encierro in the modern record, with eight runners gored by a single bull that ran the entire course alone after separating at the Santo Domingo slope. It tied the all-time record for gorings in one encierro and was also the last time Marqués de Domecq ran in Pamplona.
Planning your own run?
2007 is the record. For what came next, see San Fermín 2008, or learn the route with the runners who have studied it longest.