San Fermín 2016: The Running of the Bulls
July 6 to 14, 2016. Twelve runners gored. Cebada Gago’s second-morning run lasted 5 minutes 46 seconds and left seven runners gored. Eight runs, every video, all the stories.
Curated by Dennis Clancey
· Founder of Encierro, veteran bull runner
8
Encierros
12
Gored by horn
2:13
Fastest run
0
Deaths
What 2016 Was Really Like
Dennis Clancey · Founder, Encierro
I was in Pamplona for the 2016 fiesta. What I remember about that year is how dramatically different each morning felt. The first day with Fuente Ymbro was clean. The second morning, Cebada Gago, was the opposite of clean. The herd fractured almost immediately, the Spanish press called it chaotic, and when it was over seven runners had been gored in a single encierro that stretched past five and a half minutes. That was the sharpest single day I can recall from any fiesta I was present for.
The José Escolar run on July 9 produced another extraordinary chapter: one bull turned back, and the clock ran to 4 minutes 1 second before it reached the ring. By contrast, Victoriano del Río on July 12 ran the route in 2 minutes and 13 seconds with no gorings. That range, five and a half minutes to two and thirteen, tells you everything about 2016.
Dennis Clancey, Founder, Encierro
2016 in contextTwelve Gored, Seven in One Morning
Twelve runners were gored by horn across eight encierros. The danger was not evenly distributed: seven of those twelve gorings came in a single morning, the July 8 Cebada Gago run, which Aplausos called dangerous and chaotic.
The José Escolar encierro on July 9 produced a different kind of extreme: one bull turned back, steers were released to bring it on, and it ran on to the ring. The run lasted 4 minutes 1 second. Read every year in the full archive, or see how 2016 compares to 2015 and 2017.
Twelve gored. Seven came in a single Cebada Gago morning.Morning by morning
Every 2016 Encierro, Day by Day
Each run with its ganadería, time, horn injuries, and the official RTVE video. The route runs 848.6 meters from Santo Domingo to the ring; see the route map.
Thu July 7 · First run
Fuente Ymbro
Gored: 0
A clean opener. The Fuente Ymbro bulls caused tense moments at Telefónica, and no runner was gored.
Fri July 8 · Second run
Cebada Gago
5:46
Gored: 7
Aplausos called Cebada Gago’s return a dangerous and chaotic run. Seven runners were gored in a run that lasted 5 minutes 46 seconds, and nine were taken to hospital.
Sat July 9 · Third run
José Escolar
4:01
Gored: 2
One José Escolar bull turned back, and steers were released to bring it on. It then ran on to the ring, and the clock stopped at 4 minutes 1 second. Two runners were gored, one in the thorax and one in the arm.
Sun July 10 · Fourth run
Pedraza de Yeltes
Gored: 2
A fast morning in the Pamplona debut of Pedraza de Yeltes. By first figures, two runners were gored and three more were taken to hospital.
Mon July 11 · Fifth run
Jandilla
3:04
Gored: 0
A very fast run of 3 minutes 4 seconds. No horn gorings; four runners were treated for contusions.
Tue July 12 · Sixth run
Victoriano del Río
2:13
Gored: 0
The fastest run of the fiesta, with speed and good runs in Aplausos’s report. Zero horn gorings; four runners were taken to hospital with contusions and trauma. A complete contrast to the two dangerous runs earlier in the week.
Wed July 13 · Seventh run
Núñez del Cuvillo
2:32
Gored: 1
A fast run. An American runner was gored in the left leg in the Ayuntamiento section.
Thu July 14 · Eighth run
Miura
2:20
Gored: 0
Miura closed the 2016 fiesta in 2 minutes and 20 seconds with no horn gorings. Seven runners were taken to hospital with contusions. Miura’s fourth consecutive closing run.
The Stories the Numbers Leave Out
The second morning
Cebada Gago’s Seven Gorings in One Morning
On July 8, on Cebada Gago’s return, Aplausos described a dangerous and chaotic run. Seven runners were gored in 5 minutes 46 seconds, and nine were taken to hospital.
The bull that turned back
José Escolar’s Bull That Turned Back
On July 9, a José Escolar bull turned back. Steers were released to escort it, and it ran on to the ring; the official clock stopped at 4 minutes and 1 second. Two runners were gored.
The fast morning
Victoriano del Río’s 2:13
Four days after the Cebada Gago run, Victoriano del Río ran the route in 2 minutes and 13 seconds with no horn gorings, the fastest run of 2016. It was the most complete contrast of the week: the same route, the same 848.6 meters, and a morning that looked nothing like what had come before.
Official Poster of San Fermín 2016
Cartel: “Sanmarrazkin” by Colegio Buztintxuri.
The 2016 poster was the work of the Buztintxuri school in Pamplona, presented by Eneko Huarte, Mikel Mendibil, Patricia Martiartu and Mikel Santos.
The poster received 1,575 votes in the public ballot, 25.9% of the vote, with 6,078 people taking part.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, cartel archive
Selected as the official poster of Sanfermines 2016 through Pamplona's annual concurso de carteles.
Beyond the runThe City in 2016
The chupinazo fired at noon on Wednesday, July 6, 2016, opening the fiesta. The Plaza Consistorial filled with the white-and-red crowd that defines the opening ceremony of San Fermín, with the traditional showers of champagne, sangria, and water from the balconies above. Nine days of fiesta followed before the candlelit Pobre de Mí closed the celebration at midnight on July 14.
The International Fireworks Competition continued at the Ciudadela park, with nightly displays drawing large crowds. The fiesta’s bull fair (Feria del Toro) ran alongside the encierros from July 7 to 14 in the Plaza de Toros de Pamplona, with the six fighting bulls from each morning’s encierro facing matadors in the afternoon corridas.
In the world press2016, As the World Saw It
A selection of the international coverage of San Fermín 2016.
The recordHow 2016 Came Together
The planning and key dates, kept on the record.
Before the fiesta
The poster “Sanmarrazkin” by Colegio Buztintxuri, presented by Eneko Huarte, Mikel Mendibil, Patricia Martiartu and Mikel Santos, was announced as the winning cartel. The work received 1,575 votes in the public ballot.
The lineup
Eight ranches confirmed: Fuente Ymbro, Cebada Gago, José Escolar, Pedraza de Yeltes, Jandilla, Victoriano del Río, Núñez del Cuvillo, and Miura. Miura closed for the fourth consecutive year.
6 July 2016
The chupinazo opened the fiesta at noon from City Hall. Nine days of fiesta, eight encierros, and a week that would end with twelve runners gored.
8 July 2016
Cebada Gago returned with a run Aplausos called dangerous and chaotic: 5:46 and seven gorings.
9 July 2016
The José Escolar encierro lasted 4 minutes 1 second after one bull turned back; it then ran on to the ring behind the steers.
14 July 2016
Miura closed the fiesta in 2:20 with zero gorings. At midnight, Pobre de Mí closed San Fermín 2016 in the Plaza del Castillo.
San Fermín 2016, Answered
How many runners were gored in San Fermín 2016?
Twelve runners were gored by horn across the eight encierros. Seven of those twelve gorings came in a single morning, the July 8 Cebada Gago run.
Which ganadería ran in each encierro in 2016?
Fuente Ymbro on July 7, Cebada Gago on July 8, José Escolar on July 9, Pedraza de Yeltes on July 10, Jandilla on July 11, Victoriano del Río on July 12, Núñez del Cuvillo on July 13, and Miura on July 14.
What was the fastest run of the 2016 encierros?
Victoriano del Río on July 12 in 2 minutes and 13 seconds, the fastest of the 2016 fiesta. Zero horn gorings. The slowest was the Cebada Gago run on July 8, at 5 minutes 46 seconds.
Was anyone killed in San Fermín 2016?
No. The last death in the Pamplona encierro was Daniel Jimeno Romero on July 10, 2009.
Sources
Every fact on this page is checked against these sources. Where sources disagreed, the one closest to the day won.
- sanfermin.com (competitor), "Los alumnos del colegio de Buztintxuri ganadores del cartel de Sanfermin 2016", 2016. sanfermin.com
- Europa Press via Periodico de Ibiza, "El chupinazo abre 204 horas de fiesta ininterrumpida en Pamplona", 2016-07-06. periodicodeibiza.es
- Aplausos, "Malicioso, el fuenteymbro que abre plaza en Pamplona", 2016-07-07. aplausos.es
- EFE via Periodico de Ibiza, "Fuente Ymbro crea emocion en el primer encierro", 2016-07-07. periodicodeibiza.es
- Aplausos, "Empleado, el primero de los seis cebadas de Pamplona", 2016-07-08. aplausos.es
- Aplausos, "Peligroso y caótico encierro de Cebada Gago en su regreso", 2016-07-08. aplausos.es
- Navarra.com (navarra.okdiario.com), "Oreja para Juan Bautista en tarde de tres toros de trofeo y de mucho interés de José Escolar", 2016-07-09. navarra.okdiario.com
- sanfermin.com (competitor), "Another Escolar goes its own way", 2016-07-09. sanfermin.com
- Aplausos, "'Joya' de Pedraza, abrirá la corrida de hoy en Pamplona", 2016-07-10. aplausos.es
- Periodico de Ibiza (agency), "Tres detenidos en Pamplona por una nueva agresion sexual durante los Sanfermines (reports 4th run)", 2016-07-10. periodicodeibiza.es
- Aplausos, "Fenicio, primero de los seis jandillas de esta tarde", 2016-07-11. aplausos.es
- Aplausos, "Jandillas a toda pastilla en Pamplona", 2016-07-11. aplausos.es
- Aplausos, "Velocidad y buenas carreras con los toros de Victoriano del Río", 2016-07-12. aplausos.es
- Aplausos, "Seis de Victoriano del Río para esta tarde en Pamplona", 2016-07-12. aplausos.es
- Aplausos, "Ilustrado, de Cuvillo, abre la penúltima de los Sanfermines", 2016-07-13. aplausos.es
- Aplausos, "Rápido y vibrante encierro de los toros de Núñez del Cuvillo", 2016-07-13. aplausos.es
- Aplausos, "Miura, limpio encierro para finalizar los Sanfermines", 2016-07-14. aplausos.es
- Aplausos, "Aperador, de Miura, último toro de los Sanfermines 2016", 2016-07-14. aplausos.es
- Onda Vasca, "16 fallecidos en el encierro desde 1900", 2022-07-11. ondavasca.com
- Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, "Carteles de San Fermin (cartel archive)". pamplona.es
Planning your own run?
2016 is in the record. For what came before, see San Fermín 2015, or for what followed, see San Fermín 2017.