San Fermín 2008: The Running of the Bulls
July 6 to 14, 2008. The first year of the public vote for the official poster. Eight encierros, eight ganaderiías, every video, and the stories from a fiesta remembered for the historic return of Conde de la Corte to Pamplona.
What 2008 Was Really Like
That year I met my good friend Jorge, who has been part of my Pamplona life ever since. Before the fiesta I had spent time in southern Spain visiting the bull-breeding ranches, I met the owners of Fuente Ymbro and Cebada Gago, which made watching those encierros in 2008 carry a different weight. I knew something of where those animals came from.
I arrived in Pamplona that year without an apartment arranged. I went early and found someone willing to rent me an attic in the Plaza de la Navarrería, one of the squares in the Casco Antiguo. I packed a large group of friends into it. The fountain in that square was known as the Aussie fountain, Australians would jump off it during the fiesta. One night a drunk man was climbing the fountain and fell badly, badly enough that he was wounded. One of the people staying in my apartment was a dentist and he had sutures with him. He cleaned up the man’s wound and sewed it shut right there in the apartment. I then walked the man down to a taxi and made sure he got where he needed to go. It was the kind of night that only happens in Pamplona.
Dennis Clancey, Founder, Encierro
The Year Conde de la Corte Returned
The standout ganaderiía of the 2008 program was Conde de la Corte, which opened the fiesta on July 7. The ranch had been a familiar presence in twentieth-century Pamplona but this would prove to be its sole encierro appearance in the twenty-first century, making the July 7 run a genuine historical footnote. Cebada Gago followed the next morning with their reliably volatile style. Fuente Ymbro, which Dennis had visited at their southern Spain ranch in the weeks before the fiesta, ran later in the week. Miura closed the fiesta on July 14 as they had done for years, their long stride and aggressive nature making the final morning the one that experienced runners approach with the most respect.
2008 was also the year the city of Pamplona changed how the official poster was chosen. For the first time, citizens voted directly to select the winning design from a shortlist chosen by a jury. Miguel Ángel Antoñanzas Remón’s “Con tacto” received more than half of all votes cast, a decisive result for a new system. Read every year in the full archive, or see how 2008 compares to 2007 and 2009.
Conde de la Corte opened the 2008 fiesta in what would prove to be the ranch’s only encierro appearance of the twenty-first century.
Every 2008 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.
Conde de la Corte
A historic opener. Conde de la Corte, a ranch with deep twentieth-century roots in Pamplona, ran what would prove to be its only encierro of the twenty-first century. The animals ran through without major incident, giving the fiesta a controlled opening morning.
Cebada Gago
Cebada Gago brought their characteristic aggression to the second morning. The ranch’s bulls are historically among the most dangerous in Pamplona, with a high rate of gorings across their encierros. Runners in Estafeta faced a demanding morning.
Fuente Ymbro
Fuente Ymbro, a Seville province ranch Dennis had visited in the weeks before the fiesta, ran on the third morning. Their bulls are known for speed and running compactly with the steers, which generally produces cleaner mornings on the course.
El Ventorrillo
El Ventorrillo took the fourth slot. The ranch shared the best encierro award with Miura for 2008, a recognition given to the ganaderiía that produced the most technically demanding and impressive run of the fiesta.
Jandilla
Jandilla brought a fast and demanding fifth morning. The ranch from Cádiz province is known for speed and for bulls that tend to separate from the herd, creating the most dangerous conditions on the course. Runners in Estafeta faced sustained pressure.
Dolores Aguirre
Dolores Aguirre Ybarra provided the Saturday morning run, one of the busiest days of the fiesta with the largest crowds on the route. Their bulls ran with the herd and produced a relatively contained morning despite the pressure of the packed course.
Núñez del Cuvillo
Núñez del Cuvillo from Cádiz ran the penultimate morning. The ranch is known for producing well-formed, athletic bulls that generally run fast and compactly. Sunday’s run drew large crowds for the second-to-last morning of the fiesta.
Miura
Miura closed the fiesta on July 14, as they do year after year. The Seville ranch produces the largest bulls on the route, long-bodied and fast over distance, and the final morning draws the most experienced runners. The 2008 Miura encierro shared the year’s best-run award with El Ventorrillo.
The Stories the Numbers Leave Out
San Fermín 2008 Official Poster
Cartel: “Con tacto” by Miguel Ángel Antoñanzas Remón.
A photographic composition showing a runner and the head of a bull seen from above, the design was built using photo-editing software with Antoñanzas himself as the running figure. The title plays on the double meaning of “con tacto” in Spanish: “with touch” and “with tact.”
2008 was the first year the winning poster was chosen by popular vote. Of the five finalist works selected by a jury of experts, “Con tacto” received 3,341 votes, 52.23 percent of 6,391 total ballots cast. The prize was 4,500 euros.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, cartel archive
The 2008 San Fermín official poster, selected through the annual concurso de carteles held by Pamplona each year.
The City in 2008
The chupinazo opened the fiesta at noon on Saturday, July 6, 2008, with the traditional rocket fired from the balcony of the Plaza Consistorial. The nine days that followed carried the full program of morning encierros, afternoon bullfights at the Plaza de Toros, evening concerts, fireworks, and the round-the-clock activity of the peñas in the streets and bars of the Casco Antiguo. The fiesta closed at midnight on July 14 with the candlelit Pobre de Mí in the Plaza del Castillo, the same closing ritual performed every year since time out of mind.
The Feria del Toro, the afternoon bullfight series that runs parallel to the encierros, featured eight corridas across the nine days. The shared best-encierro award between El Ventorrillo and Miura reflected a fiesta in which no single morning dominated the conversation but both the middle and closing days delivered encierros worth studying.
How 2008 Came Together
The planning and key dates, kept on the record.
The winning poster “Con tacto” by Miguel Ángel Antoñanzas Remón was announced as the first San Fermín poster chosen by popular vote. Citizens selected it from five finalists, with 52.23 percent of 6,391 votes cast, the most decisive result of the new system’s inaugural year.
Assembly of the vallado began, with approximately 900 posts, 2,700 boards and 2,500 wedges installed along the 849-meter route from the Santo Domingo corrals to the bullring.
Eight ranches confirmed: Conde de la Corte, Cebada Gago, Fuente Ymbro, El Ventorrillo, Jandilla, Dolores Aguirre, Núñez del Cuvillo, and Miura. Conde de la Corte’s appearance would prove to be the ranch’s only encierro in the twenty-first century. Miura and El Ventorrillo shared the year’s best-run award.
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 2008, Answered
Which ganaderiías ran in San Fermín 2008?
Eight ranches ran from July 7 to 14: Conde de la Corte (July 7), Cebada Gago (July 8), Fuente Ymbro (July 9), El Ventorrillo (July 10), Jandilla (July 11), Dolores Aguirre (July 12), Núñez del Cuvillo (July 13), and Miura (July 14). El Ventorrillo and Miura shared the year’s best-encierro award.
Was anyone killed in San Fermín 2008?
No. There were no fatalities in the 2008 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 2008.
What was special about the 2008 San Fermín poster?
2008 was the first year the official San Fermín poster was chosen by popular vote. Citizens of Pamplona selected from five finalists shortlisted by a jury. Miguel Ángel Antoñanzas Remón’s “Con tacto” received 52.23 percent of 6,391 votes cast. The public-vote system has been used every year since.
Is the Conde de la Corte ganaderiía still active in Pamplona?
No. Conde de la Corte was a frequently participating ranch across most of the twentieth century but its 2008 encierro was its only twenty-first-century appearance in Pamplona. The ranch has not run in the city since. Its July 7, 2008 run is therefore historically notable as a modern one-off appearance by a classic name.
Planning your own run?
2008 is the record. For what came next, see San Fermín 2009, or learn the route with the runners who have studied it longest.