The eighth and final bull run of Spain's iconic San Fermín festival concluded on Tuesday, leaving 10 men injured and bringing the total number of participants hurt during this year's event to 57. The Navarre regional government confirmed that among the final day's casualties, an 18-year-old man sustained a gore wound to the thigh, while a 46-year-old man was gored in the chest. The remaining eight individuals were transported to hospitals to receive treatment for bruises of varying severity.
The bulls successfully navigated the 848.6-metre (928-yard) course from the holding pen to the city bull ring in two minutes and 25 seconds. For eight consecutive mornings, hundreds of participants, many dressed in traditional white shirts with red neck scarves, risked their safety by running ahead of the bulls through the narrow, winding streets of the medieval city. The majority of these participants are men, and the animals involved in the runs face imminent death in afternoon bullfights featuring the country's top matadors.
International interest remains high for the festival, which gained global fame through Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel, "The Sun Also Rises." Among the 57 total injured this year, five are foreign nationals, including two Britons, one Australian, one American, and one German who suffered a gore wound to his left arm. Four men in total were gored during the course of the festival, including a 30-year-old Spanish man who was pierced in the face by a bull's horn.
While the daily runs have now concluded, the festival is set to hold its official closing ceremony at midnight. Records dating back to 1911 indicate that 16 people have been killed during the bull runs. The most recent fatality occurred in 2009, when a 27-year-old Spaniard was gored in the neck, heart, and lungs.
Although the runs are over, the festival's closing ceremony will take place at midnight.
