Spain is famous for its fun with powerful and ferocious bulls. The bullfight is attended by professionals who undergo serious training. But the ensierro attracts the most ordinary inhabitants, and especially tourists, with its opportunity to experience a surge of adrenaline, running away from an angry animal.
The most famous ensierros are held every year in Pamplona at the celebration of Saint Fermin. The festival lasts a whole week, during which crowds of desperate daredevils rush through the streets of the town, trying not to get caught by the sharp horns of bulls. The race itself does not last long, a few minutes are enough for daredevils to overcome a sufficiently long distance.
Very often these fun ends tragically - with human casualties, and the number of wounded and maimed is in the tens. Extreme runners are taken to hospitals with bruised sides, torn limbs and buttocks, bruised heads and genitals. But, oddly enough, contented and proud smiles wander on their faces!
Local residents do not run out into the streets of the Encierro without preparation. Only experienced Spaniards are engaged in this, but tourists, under the influence of alcohol vapors, roll in hundreds under the hooves of bulls. Vacationers do not know how to properly dodge and run away from animals, how to avoid panic. Therefore, they often suffer from their rash actions.
Bull driving is still common in the Spanish countryside. But only races along the city streets are considered real ensierros, when animals are released from the corral and driven to the bullfighting arena. E. Hemingway glorified this entertainment with the novel "The Sun Also Rises."
The Spaniards fence the route of the race with wooden fences made of beams so that people can easily climb this structure, fleeing the sharp horns of the bull. The running distance is approximately one kilometer. The local participants are members of the clubs of fans of the ensierro and bullfighting, they run in a certain form.
The organizers try in vain every year to prevent tourists from participating in the ensierro. But the stubbornness and perseverance of extreme sportsmen have no boundaries. With a resourcefulness worthy of better use, vacationers run out into the distance of the bull run.
Local experienced participants do not even try to run all the way, as they are well aware that it is extremely life-threatening. Such thrilling adventures are the national fun of the Spaniards. A real man believes that he should take part in an encierro at least once in his life.
