San Fermín 2017: The Running of the Bulls
July 6 to 14, 2017. Seven gored, the lowest total in four years. Miura closed the fiesta in 2 minutes and 10 seconds, the second-fastest closing run in modern history. Eight encierros, every video, and the stories that defined a year of speed.
What 2017 Was Really Like
I was in Pamplona for the 2017 fiesta. What I remember most about that year is how efficiently everything moved, and how that efficiency masked the genuine danger that opened and closed the week. Cebada Gago on July 7 was a hard opener: three gored in a run that took nearly three minutes, the herd unsettled from the start. Then the middle five days were some of the fastest and cleanest running I can recall from any fiesta. Fuente Ymbro, Jandilla, Victoriano del Río, three mornings that felt like watching the route work exactly as it should.
Miura on the 14th was the coda everyone had been waiting for. Two minutes and ten seconds, the second-fastest closing run in the modern record, and not a single horn injury. The crowd in the plaza de toros received those bulls roaring. It was the kind of morning that makes you want to come back the following July.
Dennis Clancey, Founder, Encierro
The Year of Speed and the Lowest Gorings in Four Years
Seven runners gored by horn across eight encierros made 2017 the safest fiesta since 2013 by that measure. Five of the eight runs finished in under two minutes and thirty seconds, and three of those came in under 2:20. The two runs that produced gorings, Cebada Gago on July 7 (three gored) and Núñez del Cuvillo on July 13 (two gored), were separated by five clean mornings in between.
The closer told a different story from the goring count. Miura’s 2:10 on July 14 was the second-fastest encierro in the modern timing era at that point, eclipsed only by Miura’s own 2:05 record set in 2015. It was also the tenth consecutive year that Miura closed the fiesta. Off the course, 2017 was notable for broad public statements against sexual aggression and harassment during the fiesta, a coordinated response by organizers, the City, and runners that drew attention across Spain. Read the full archive at San Fermín by Year.
Seven gored, the lowest in four years, and Miura’s 2:10 was the second-fastest closing run in the modern record.
Every 2017 Encierro, Day by Day
Each run with its ganaderiía, time, horn injuries, and the official RTVE video. The route runs 849 meters from Santo Domingo to the ring; see the route map.
Cebada Gago
A dangerous opener. The Cebada Gago herd ran unsettled from the first moment, goring three runners before the fiesta had properly found its footing. One of the most watched mornings of the week in the press.
José Escolar
A long and difficult morning. The José Escolar herd fractured on Estafeta, producing a slow, dangerous run. Two runners gored, eight more treated for traumatisms from falls and pile-ups.
Puerto de San Lorenzo
A clean and well-paced morning. The Puerto de San Lorenzo herd ran compact through Estafeta with no horn gorings. Four runners were treated for traumatisms from falls, a relatively quiet third day.
Fuente Ymbro
Fast and clean. The Fuente Ymbro bulls moved tight and well-grouped down Estafeta, producing only two minor injuries from traumatisms and no horn gorings. One of the most straightforward mornings of the week.
Jandilla
The second-fastest run of the fiesta and the cleanest morning of the week. The Jandilla herd ran compact through the entire route with zero horn gorings. Two runners treated for traumatisms only.
Victoriano del Río
Another fast, clean morning. The Victoriano del Río bulls kept pace with the steers through the Curva and Estafeta with no horn injuries. Eight runners treated for traumatisms from crowding and falls.
Núñez del Cuvillo
The slowest run of the week produced two horn gorings. The Núñez del Cuvillo herd split at the Curva, leaving individual bulls working the route independently. Six additional runners were treated for traumatisms.
Miura
The fastest run of the fiesta and the second-fastest closing run in the modern record, 5 seconds behind Miura’s own 2015 time. A compact, powerful herd ran the entire route in 2 minutes and 10 seconds with no horn gorings and thirteen runners treated for traumatisms.
The Stories the Numbers Leave Out
San Fermín 2017: Official Cartel
Cartel: “Mañanas sanfermineras” by Maximiliano Cosatti.
The winning poster for San Fermín 2017 was created by Maximiliano Cosatti, an artist born in Argentina in 1979 who had been living in Pamplona for four years at the time of his win. The image captures the early-morning atmosphere of the fiesta before the encierro begins: a crowd in white-and-red gathered on the street in the warm light of a summer dawn.
The poster received 27.4% of votes, with 5,682 citizens of Pamplona participating in the public ballot held in April 2017. The title translates as “San Fermín mornings”, a reference to the particular quality of light and anticipation that only exists at that hour, on those nine days, in that city.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Pamplona, cartel archive
The official San Fermín 2017 cartel was chosen via the city’s annual poster contest, the concurso de carteles.
The City in 2017
The chupinazo fired at noon on Friday, July 6, 2017, opening nine days of fiesta. The Plaza del Castillo and the streets around City Hall filled with the white-and-red crowd that is synonymous with the San Fermín opening. The formal program ran through midnight on July 14 when the candlelit Pobre de Mí closed the fiesta in the Plaza del Castillo.
The 2017 fiesta was framed in public discussion by two flags flying side by side on City Hall during the chupinazo, the inclusion of the Basque nationalist ikurriña alongside the other flags drew both support and protest, with the City ultimately allowing all flags to fly for the opening ceremony. The International Fireworks Competition continued its annual run, with nightly displays from the Ciudadela park. Nine days after it opened, the Pobre de Mí closed the fiesta at midnight on July 14 and Pamplona returned to itself.
2017, As the World Saw It
A selection of the international coverage of San Fermín 2017.
Find Your 2017 Run
The Pamplona photographers and the Navarra press shoot every morning. These links go to 2017 galleries.
How 2017 Came Together
The planning and key dates, kept on the record.
The poster “Mañanas sanfermineras” by Maximiliano Cosatti was announced as the winner of the public vote. Cosatti, Argentine-born and living in Pamplona, received 27.4% of 5,682 ballots cast.
Eight ranch confirmed: Cebada Gago, José Escolar, Puerto de San Lorenzo, Fuente Ymbro, Jandilla, Victoriano del Río, Núñez del Cuvillo, and Miura. Miura closed for the tenth consecutive year.
The chupinazo opened the fiesta at noon from the balcony of City Hall. The ikurriña flew alongside other flags on the City Hall façade for the first time, drawing both celebration and protest from different sections of the crowd.
Cebada Gago opened the 2017 encierros in 2 minutes 58 seconds with three horn gorings. The five mornings that followed produced zero additional gorings, a run of clean days rare in recent fiesta history.
Miura closed in 2 minutes 10 seconds, the second-fastest encierro in the modern record. Zero horn gorings. At midnight, Pobre de Mí closed the fiesta in the Plaza del Castillo.
San Fermín 2017, Answered
How many runners were gored in San Fermín 2017?
Seven runners were gored by horn across the eight encierros, the lowest total since 2013. Five of those seven gorings came in just two runs: the opener with Cebada Gago on July 7 (three gored) and the penultimate run with Núñez del Cuvillo on July 13 (two gored). The closing Miura on July 14 produced no gorings.
Which ganaderia ran in each encierro in 2017?
Cebada Gago on July 7, José Escolar on July 8, Puerto de San Lorenzo on July 9, Fuente Ymbro 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 2017 encierros?
Miura on July 14 in 2 minutes and 10 seconds, the fastest of the week and the second-fastest closing run in modern encierro history. The Miura bulls also set the all-time modern record of 2:05 in 2015. Jandilla on July 11 (2:13) was the second-fastest run of the 2017 fiesta.
Was anyone killed in San Fermín 2017?
No. The last death in the Pamplona encierro was Daniel Jimeno Romero on July 10, 2009. The 2017 fiesta added no name to the list of sixteen runners who have died across more than a century of the encierro.
Planning your own run?
2017 is in the record. For what came before, see San Fermín 2016, or for what followed, see San Fermín 2018.