Running of the bulls in Pamplona

I don't think I've ever seen so many Americans in Spain as at the Sanfermines fiesta in Pamplona. And not only Americans seem to enjoy this fiesta. It probably ranks among the Spanish fiestas that attract most foreign tourists. Of course, it's a nice and colourful fiesta (many people wearing white trousers and a white shirt with a red handkerchief around their necks) and it seems to continue for 24 hours a day (and it lasts for a week!). But to be very honest, I've never understood why this fiesta was so much better than so many others. Of course, the running of the bulls is spectacular, but then there are so many other fiestas with bull running where hardly any foreign tourists go (for instance the ones in Falces and Tudela). Anyway, tomorrow the bulls will start running again, until 14 July, daily at 8 am.

The reason Sanfermines became so popular in the Anglosaxon world is that writer Ernest Hemingway wrote about it in his book 'The sun also rises'. He called it a 'damned fine show'.
Little warning: the bulls are real, so if you decide to run, run for your life! If you're not entirely sober, think twice before you run (actually I would think twice anyway!). Every year people get injured, regularly people get killed by the bulls. Most of them are tourists, many of them are not entirely sober. If you don't run for the bulls, there's no reason not to try the local brandy: patxaran. I love the name as much as I love its taste.