The Ethical Dilemma of Running with Bulls in Spain - San Fermín 🇪🇸

Written in Old Sessions House in London 10/7/2025

I’ve just come back from my second year of running with the bulls in Pamplona Spain, and am having mixed emotions about the event. On one hand, it’s a thrill like no other, as close to the primal ‘man vs beast’ escapade I’ve ever gotten to. On the other hand, it’s animal cruelty¹.

For those who don’t know San Fermín is a week-long festival held every year from July 6 to July 14 in Pamplona, the capital of Navarre, northern Spain.

The San Fermín festival in Pamplona, Spain, has its roots in a blend of religious tradition, medieval commerce, and local custom. It honours Saint Fermín, the city's patron saint, whose feast day² is July 7, and was originally a solemn religious celebration. Over time, it merged with local summer fairs and bullfighting events, forming a week-long festival by the 16th century. The Running of the Bulls, or encierro, began as a practical way to move bulls from the outskirts of the city to the bullring, with young men eventually joining the herders in a show of bravery. By the 1800s, the run became a formalised tradition, and its international fame skyrocketed after Ernest Hemingway vividly depicted the event in his 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises.³

In 2024, in my first year of living in Europe, I decided to partake in running with the bulls for the first time. By myself, I flew into Madrid, hired a car & drove 5 hours up to Pamplona on the other side of the road (other side because in Australia we drive on the left). Driving in a rental car in a foreign country with foreign (relaxed) driving & speeding regulations is a thrill in itself and deserves its own essay.

As I was on my own, I quickly threw on my red and white Sydney Swans jersey as it was fitting with the festival’s colour theme, slightly comedic, but most importantly, a subtle signal for fellow Australians to break the ice for a conversation that would begat a friendship. And so, into the streets of Pamplona I went.

I was surprised by how few foreigners were around, I was alone but not lonely. Equally as taken aback by the sheer volume of alcohol so free flowing as I was appalled by the stickiness of the pavement beneath my feet. Still, I was fully immersing myself in the chaos and character of the celebration. It was fun—undeniably so. The Spanish do it different.

What struck me most, though, was how much I continued to learn about Australia by being away from it. This sort of mayhem would never be allowed in Australia. I’d like to point out that for both runs I was sober as I didn’t want to hide behind inebriation from the adrenaline and fear I was yet to face. I wanted to feel it.

Sooner than later, the my jersey worked it’s magic & I met some like minded individuals in Leon, Kousha & Hamish who shared my adventurous & ambitious spirit. They later visited me in London & I visited them in Sydney, one of the cooler ways I’ve sparked a friendship ~ through a Sydney Swans jersey during a festival in Spain where we ran with bulls.

My intentions of partaking in such an event were to create some stories to share with my kids. To live a life full of adventure & actively lived experiences. In a somewhat shallow manner, I want to be the dad whose kid’s brag about to their friends.

I keep a journal that I write to my future kids and on the 5th of July 2024 I wrote:

“I stink so bad because I’m so nervous. I know everything is going to be alright but my body likes to play into this facade of being scared, stressed, anxious or all of the above (I’m definitely all three) but honestly that’s what life is about. Doing cool shit that scares you. Therein lies why I’m doing this. That constant battle between my head and my body wherein which my body overrides my mind trying to make peace being uncomfortable”

The night before the run in 2024 I slept in my car as I was balling on a budget and I didn’t want to pay for extortionate accommodation. I pooped twice the morning of, wrote to my kids again & off I went to go run with the bulls with my newfound friends.

The run itself was a rush like no other.⁴

I remember driving the 5 hours back to Madrid a couple hours after the run howling & screaming. I stopped for two naps, took my shirt off & paraded around a field of sunflowers, only to cautiously skip back to the car as I was barefoot and didn’t know if/what snakes lived in Spain. The adrenaline that surged through me nearly killed me twice as I overtook semi’s at ungodly speeds with oncoming traffic hurdling towards me. I try to live by a quote "you don’t always have to be safe, you can just never be stupid” this was definitely a stupid moment and far more dangerous than any bull run.

I was 22 years old and I had just completed the Pamplona bull run for the first time and you never forget your first.

But at the mature, wise & intellectual age of 23 (sarcasm) my second time running left a different taste in my mouth.

I never looked into the ethics of the bull run purposefully as I knew I wouldn’t like what I found (quite cowardly of me I know), ignorance is truly indeed bliss. I knew the bulls died after the run but I guess I didn’t want to believe it. I always hoped they were humanely killed but secretly knew they weren’t. They’re killed in a gruesome bull fight which I’ve never attended (though I probably would have in 2024 had I been organised) but my best friend has and he was pretty shaken up after the fact. Here’s a somewhat cringe (depending who you ask) video from PETA UK showcasing the brutality of the bull run.

What I find interesting is how many people don’t even know about the welfare of the bulls after the run. One would assume it’s similar to horse riding whereby they go and live on a paddock for the rest of their years or are ethically killed for meat. The violence nature of their death is what sits uneasy with me. Is it wrong that if they were humanely killed I’d feel better about this ordeal? I know 10 year old Jav would be horrified that I’d support/ partake in a sport/activity that forced animals to be terrified & die in such a cruel manner.

In last weeks bull run (2025), I was; stupid, privileged or daring enough (depending who you ask) to get close enough to the bull as it slipped & stumbled just metres behind me. Instinctively I wanted to stop running and help it up. Obviously that would’ve been dumb of me but even now I can’t shake that feeling of pity for the animal.

There’s something really depressing about seeing such a big beautiful beast stumble around in fear. Sure I was scared throughout the run but ironically, it was a pretty humanising moment to see the fear in the bull’s eyes too.

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As if running with bulls wasn’t thrilling, dangerous or stupid enough. I just had to lay in front of them as it jumped over me. In 2024 once, and in 2025 twice.

Do me a favour, feel the back of your skull right now. Feel how soft the part where you spine connects to your skull is? Imagine a 600kg kicking against it to hurdle itself over a group of 10-15 thrill seekers.

Moments before this happened to the person next to me ~ I was on top of him. It was only about 20 seconds prior did the person next to me asked me to lay my arm next to his, to which I did. Consequently I slide to the right and was out of the soon-to-be ‘fire zone’. Don’t watch this video if you’re easily traumatised or if you’re my mother.

I stopped recording out of respect but that man did not move after being stomped on. He was carried out of the arena face-down by his shoulders & legs. I couldn’t bare to watch. Whilst I’ve never seen someone die, I’ve seen people knocked out (boxing) and that man was not knocked out. If I ask my heart of hearts is he okay, I cannot convince myself that he is. To think, seconds prior I was in his exact position to then, by chance, move a finger tip distance away is again very humanising & a very necessary reminder that I am not invincible. I truly hope that man is okay.

This was the other side of the bull run, playing stupid games wins you stupid prizes.

It’s a side of the bull run that I don’t think is honestly reported on nor tracked. When you search up “How many people have died in the Pamplona bull run” multiple sources claim “only 15 people have died in the last century with the last death in 2009.”⁵

I find this extremely hard to believe given the violence I’ve witnessed firsthand. I’ve heard rumours that they only count deaths whereby;

1. The death was a direct result of a bull goring directly

2. The victim died on scene.

So if someone was died via the stampede, or gored & died in hospital, their death wouldn’t be counted as part of the Pamplona Bull Run death count.

But why isn’t there much media about this? An accessible way of collating this information- surely one would want an accurate representation of the statistics surrounding the injuries/deaths correlated to the bull run before partaking? I fear that for the same reason the bull’s cruel end is not voiced - money.

Now surprisingly there isn’t a lot of public data available on how much money is made during the San Fermin festival. I heard a rumour whilst I was there that 30% of the city’s GDP is derived from the 9 day festival & whilst I can’t confirm the statement; one only has to look at flight prices, accommodation prices & even food prices as restaurants print inflated versions of their menus during the San Fermin to get an idea of the revenue generated. You can’t really blame the economics of it all, where there’s demand, they’ll be supply.

So why am I writing about this?

To be frank, I’m not sure what my intention with this essay is. I find it quite hypocritical to post such a cool & stirring video without facing the music of the reality of this bull run.

Writing about my experience is an educational exercise, informing myself of the realities of what I’m partaking in, questioning my own beliefs and hopefully becoming an active participant in the passings of my life, rather than be a bystander, running in the direction of the crowd so to speak. I do not regret partaking in the event for it has forced myself to have a stimulating conversation with myself.

If you do the math they’re about 6-10 bulls that run everyday for a week, that’s around 56 bulls that are tormented & murdered at the end of a fantastically fun week. So what? Is it worth it? Who am I to write about it?⁶

It makes me uncomfortable to write about which is why I write about it.

I’m still an avid meat eater & let’s not kid ourselves, the global meat industry is set to reach $2 trillion US dollars by 2030⁷ & that paints a far uglier picture than any amount of bull running. I’m also not blind to the irony in a foreigner partaking in an event and then complaining about said event, it sounds pretty fucking stupid.

Am I a terrible person for finding joy in this event? Am I inherently selfish for putting my desires over the life of an animal?

I’ve partaken in watching Polo in the Park. I'm yet to attend horse racing (not the biggest fan if I’m honest but if tickets were given to me for free & my mates were going I wouldn’t be opposed). Speaking candidly, there’s a level of poshness that I disdain with these events. Sitting in the stands, watching animals do our bidding. Whereas with the Running of the Bulls, there’s a level of risk or skin in the game which innately seems working class to me. Being the man in the arena.

The biggest difference within the comparison of these two sports are the certainty of the death for the animals. Horse racing/riding is an extremely expensive sport. For a horse to be ‘put down’/ murdered- however you want to say it, the cost of keeping the animal alive must outweigh the cost of the animal.

It just seems so unfair to the bull that it’s death has been predetermined & even if it kills it’s attacker, the matador, one of their team will finish the job unrelentingly. Another fact I did not know.

I’ll attempt to liken my social justice conundrum to the world’s inability to climb ‘The heart of Australia - Uluru’ at the request of our indigenous population. Visitors began climbing Uluṟu in the late 1930s, and to keep people safe, the first section of the climb chain was installed in 1964. The climb was permanently closed on October 26, 2019⁸, over 100 years later.

Before the ban, the Anangu people, the traditional custodians of Uluru, asked visitors not to climb the rock because it holds deep cultural and spiritual significance. For them, Uluru is not just a natural landmark but a sacred place connected to their ancestral stories, laws, and identity (some pretty fkn cool stories at that⁹). Climbing it was seen as disrespectful, much like wearing wearing inappropriate clothing in a mosque or swearing in church.

In addition to the cultural reasons, climbing Uluru also causes environmental harm. The track erodes the rock’s surface, and waste left behind by climbers can damage the surrounding ecosystem. To help protect both the cultural integrity and natural environment of the area, the Uluru climb was permanently closed in 2019. Visitors are still encouraged to explore and appreciate Uluru through guided walks, cultural experiences, and learning about Anangu traditions—ways that honour the land and its people without causing harm.¹⁰

Essentially, the locals wanted something to stop & the world stopped. But what happens when the locals want something to continue¹¹ and the world wants it to stop? How much weight does tradition & ‘that’s just the way things have always been done’ truly hold & for which side?

According to PETA, year after year their is an increasing amount of Spanish people expressing their opposition to cruel bullfights, and fewer and fewer take place. In 2021, there was a 42% decrease in bullfights compared to 2019. But thrill-seekers fail to realise that running with the bulls means participating in a festival in which animals are tortured to death¹². They’ve started ‘Running of the Nudes’ a cheeky twist on the event to promote cruelty-free alternatives.

Would this event still be as fun if there was no running of the bulls? My gut says no but history would seek to tell me a different story. If we were to juxtapose this event to the very real, now historic, gladiator combat of Ancient Rome - where slaves were pitted against each other for the entertainment of the upperclass, how different is that from current events?

Emperor Honorius banned all gladiatorial combat in 404 AD primarily due to the influence of a monk named Telemachus, who was killed while protesting the games, and the growing Christian opposition to the bloodshed¹³.

Pompey once staged a combat where spearmen slaughtered 20 elephants. The distressed cries of the elephants were so disturbing that the whole crowd was moved to tears. Cicero (who was there) wrote about what an unpleasant experience it was later.

Pompey’s elephants, when they had lost all hope of escape, tried to gain the compassion of the crowd by indescribable gestures of entreaty, deploring their fate with a sort of wailing, so much to the distress of the public that they forgot the general and his munificence carefully devised for their honour, and bursting into tears rose in a body and invoked curses on the head of Pompey for which he soon afterwards paid the penalty.¹⁴

I am forever fascinated by the difference in levels of acceptance depending on which culture/ generation is being questioned & the definition of social norm being dependant on the social atmosphere one surrounds oneself with. Australian Gen Z’s vs Australian Baby Boomers. Australian Gen Z’s vs American Gen Z’s. I’m in such a privileged position to have surrounded myself with all walks of life to gain my bearings & ensure I’m not living in an echo chamber. I wonder if my kids would be disgusted that I had partaken in such an event?

My question to you.

What else are we benefiting from our “out of sight out of mind” culture? Because believe me, when a 2 ton bull is running at you full-pelt & you see just as much fear in their eyes as you do in yours, you start to question a couple of things.

No risk no story.

Jav x

1. Sorry to be a debbie downer.

2. A Catholic feast day is any day when Catholics remember and celebrate something or someone important to their faith. The word feast comes from the Latin festes, meaning 'joy' and symbolises a time of celebration

3. Like any 23 year old, I’m only researching and learning after the fact. This is in part why I write, to educate myself. I’ve just ordered this book to read.

4. The video was filmed & edited by my good friend Tyron Tran. It showcases the 2025 run which provides for a similar energy as my 2024 run

5. https://www.runningofthebulls.com/history-of-the-bulls/running-of-the-bulls-deaths/?srsltid=AfmBOoqttyZoYbfczyRyy0WIpKodEp1P6QWyJWvBAWQKvaLe4ntwTz3i

6. Well I’ve run it you fucking pussies, @ me once you have too x

7. https://www.statista.com/topics/4880/global-meat-industry/#topicOverview

8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-50151344

9. https://wilton-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/w/wilton-p/online-learning-content/year-1/term-3/week-9-/1-monday/Week_9_-_Uluru_Dreamtime_Stories.pdf

10. https://uluru.gov.au/discover/history/uluru-climb-closure/

11. I have no data to say Pamplonicas want the running of the bulls to continue but by way of it still occurring everywhere with major turn outs- I’m going to assume they do.

12. https://www.peta.org.uk/living/what-happens-during-the-running-of-the-bulls-in-pamplona/

13. https://www.italyrometour.com/gladiator-fights-were-abolished-in-404-ad/?srsltid=AfmBOoollXKKSYnS4fILAtC7b_PqqZ7KBy0vYK-I4e7FiI2KYqI6vSh7

14. https://gerryco23.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/animals-silent-or-screaming/#:~:text=Pompey's%20elephants%2C%20when%20they%20had%20lost%20all,carefully%20devised%20for%20their%20honour%2C%20and%20bursting