Lean times at Pamplona for running of bulls

PAMPLONA, Spain — Daredevils sprinting with one-ton fighting bulls swallow an exhilarating cocktail of adrenalin and fear. Now, a new brand of jitters has set in at one of the world’s great fiestas as businesses ponder the partypooping impact of economic woe.

Don’t bother asking the tens of thousands of revelers who kicked off Pamplona’s running of the bulls today with a traditional rocket-firing ceremony outside town hall. They’re too busy drinking beer or wine or cleaning off the flour, eggs or ketchup they hurled at each other to get the eight-day San Fermin festival off to a merry and messy start.

“People throwing sangria everywhere. It is just unbelievable,” said Ricky Birmingham, a 20-year-old from Australia.

Adds 20-year-old Theo Franzen of Sweden: “It is nice, but kind of scary.”

No, it is mainly merchants who are feeling the pinch of the world’s economic downturn. Rates on hotel rooms are down because of slacker demand, big-spending American and other foreign visitors are harder to find, and bars that usually make a killing off hordes of thirsty patrons from around the globe expect to serve up less booze.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The leaner times are visible elsewhere, too. The Pamplona city hall has cut its budget for the festival by more than 10 percent, to $3.5 million. And two Spanish TV networks that had been bickering over rights to broadcast the morning bull runs have agreed to do it jointly to save on costs.

With Spain’s economy in recession and saddled with 17.4 unemployment, and much of the world also in dire straits, here in Pamplona a sobering new reality has set in. The party is far from over, but it might be watered down this time.

“We thought San Fermin would always fill up,” said local entrepreneur Mikel Ollo. “We created a fictitious bubble, and that bubble has burst.”

Ollo runs a company called Incoming Navarra, which organizes VIP packages for San Fermin visitors, arranging posh accommodations, front-row views of the runs from balconies overlooking the route, a personalized tour guide to explain what they are seeing, breakfast while they watch and myriad other forms of pampering.

The price depends on what the client wants to do but last year, for instance, one customer dished out 4,000 euros a day, Ollo said. In general the service costs about euro700 ($980) to euro1,000 ($1,400) euros a day. It was particularly popular among people from the U.S., Russia and France.

“They are clients with lots of buying power. In the last few years, fewer have come but the ones that do spend more,” he said.

Now, however, with demand slumping, the company has devised a scaled-down package with a hotel room and a separate balcony along the route, for euro155 ($217) a day.

“Obviously, it is not the same level of attention as in the VIP package, but it is a very good deal,” Ollo said.

The hotel occupancy rate in general is expected to be about 90 percent, similar to last year, but for the first time in years rooms are going for as little as 90 euros a night, especially on the city outskirts, said Nacho Calvo of the Navarra Restaurant and Hotel Association.

“Rates have come down a lot and the weakness of the dollar against the euro is taking its toll on tourism,” he said.

Pamplona has around 4,000 hotel rooms, about a third of which fill up with foreigners flocking to get a taste of the festival that inspired Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun Also Rises.” Many are New Zealanders, French, Australian or American.

At Casino Eslava, a famed bar near a hostel where Hemingway often stayed during visits to San Fermin, co-owner Ricardo Ubanell said things have been slow since last year and he expects his cash register to take another hit.

“Our expectations are lower because of the crisis, no doubt about it,” he said.

Nonetheless, he has hired nine extra waiters to handle the influx of partiers and ordered just as much alcohol as previous years, although other outlets are scaling back in anticipation of leaner spending.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Vehicles travel along Mukilteo Speedway on Sunday, April 21, 2024, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Mukilteo cameras go live to curb speeding on Speedway

Starting Friday, an automated traffic camera system will cover four blocks of Mukilteo Speedway. A 30-day warning period is in place.

Carli Brockman lets her daughter Carli, 2, help push her ballot into the ballot drop box on the Snohomish County Campus on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Here’s who filed for the primary election in Snohomish County

Positions with three or more candidates will go to voters Aug. 5 to determine final contenders for the Nov. 4 general election.

Students from Explorer Middle School gather Wednesday around a makeshift memorial for Emiliano “Emi” Munoz, who died Monday, May 5, after an electric bicycle accident in south Everett. (Aspen Anderson / The Herald)
Community and classmates mourn death of 13-year-old in bicycle accident

Emiliano “Emi” Munoz died from his injuries three days after colliding with a braided cable.

Danny Burgess, left, and Sandy Weakland, right, carefully pull out benthic organisms from sediment samples on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Got Mud?’ Researchers monitor the health of the Puget Sound

For the next few weeks, the state’s marine monitoring team will collect sediment and organism samples across Puget Sound

Everett postal workers gather for a portrait to advertise the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County letter carriers prepare for food drive this Saturday

The largest single-day food drive in the country comes at an uncertain time for federal food bank funding.

Everett
Everett considers ordinance to require more apprentice labor

It would require apprentices to work 15% of the total labor hours for construction or renovation on most city projects over $1 million.

A person walks past Laura Haddad’s “Cloud” sculpture before boarding a Link car on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in SeaTac, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Sound Transit seeks input on Everett bike, pedestrian improvements

The transit agency is looking for feedback about infrastructure improvements around new light rail stations.

A standard jet fuel, left, burns with extensive smoke output while a 50 percent SAF drop-in jet fuel, right, puts off less smoke during a demonstration of the difference in fuel emissions on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Sustainable aviation fuel center gets funding boost

A planned research and development center focused on sustainable aviation… Continue reading

Dani Mundell, the athletic director at Everett Public Schools, at Everett Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, May 14, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Everett Public Schools to launch girls flag football as varsity sport

The first season will take place in the 2025-26 school year during the winter.

Clothing Optional performs at the Fisherman's Village Music Festival on Thursday, May 15 in Everett, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Everett gets its fill of music at Fisherman’s Village

The annual downtown music festival began Thursday and will continue until the early hours of Sunday.

Seen here are the blue pens Gov. Bob Ferguson uses to sign bills. Companies and other interest groups are hoping he’ll opt for red veto ink on a range of tax bills. (Photo by Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero/Washington State Standard)
Tesla, Netflix, Philip Morris among those pushing WA governor for tax vetoes

Gov. Bob Ferguson is getting lots of requests to reject new taxes ahead of a Tuesday deadline for him to act on bills.

Jerry Cornfield / Washington State Standard
A new law in Washington will assure students are offered special education services until they are 22. State Sen. Adrian Cortes, D-Battle Ground, a special education teacher, was the sponsor. He spoke of the need for increased funding and support for public schools at a February rally of educators, parents and students at the Washington state Capitol.
Washington will offer special education to students longer under new law

A new law triggered by a lawsuit will ensure public school students… Continue reading

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.