Spain's running of the bulls: 13 injured on final day of festival

Pamplona (Spain): The final bull run of the 2017 San Fermin festival in Pamplona left 13 people injured on Friday the highest number in 2017 but no gorings despite being the fastest dash of all eight held in the northern Spanish city. Medical officials said a 30 year-old visitor from the United States was the most seriously injured in Friday’s eights and last run. He was struck but not gored by the horn of a bull as the pack swept through a group of runners in the final section of the run, close to the bullring entrance. [caption id=“attachment_3813621” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Revellers run as others fall on Miura’s fighting bulls during the running of the bulls at the San Fermin Festival, in Pamplona. AP[/caption] Another American national, two French, one Italian and seven Spaniards were also being treated at the Navarra Hospital for head, back and other injuries, the regional government said in a statement. Doctors were still evaluating their condition. Most people are hurt in falls or by being trampled on by bulls, but 15 people have been fatally gored at the festival since record-keeping began in 1924. This year four Americans and three Spaniards were gored during the festival. All but a 22 year-old Californian man who is recovering from an arm injury have been discharged from hospital, the Navarra government reported. On Friday, the bulls from Seville’s renowned Miura cattle ranch and steers leading them completed the 930-yard (850-meter) course in two minutes, 10 seconds, the fastest speed in this year’s festival. Similar early morning runs involving bulls and cows through fenced cobbled streets or in open fields are traditional fixtures in summer festivals across the country. The bulls usually face matadors and almost certain death in afternoon bullfights. Pamplona, a city of around 200,000 inhabitants, increases its population five-fold for the nine-day festival brought to world fame by Nobel literature laureate Ernest Hemingway. Following the tales in his 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises, many foreigners arrive in the northern Spanish city to experience or witness the running of the bulls and participate in hundreds of activities. Dancing, food and alcohol are main attractions. Owing to complaints in previous years, the city renewed a campaign against sexual attacks, coordinated efforts from security agents and social services as well as attempting to educate the public. Preliminary figures show a sharp decrease in the number of incidents.