Running with the bulls on Calle Estafeta
July is quickly approaching. If you would like to join Iberian Traveler in Pamplona for the Fiesta, rooms are still available but need to be booked as soon as possible. Arriving on the 6th or 7th is still possible, but we have more packages available between the 8th and the 14th at our favorite 3 and 4-star hotels in the city. Our exclusive packages include 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5-night stays and balcony reservations. We also offer upgrades to the new luxury 4-star Hotel Palacio Guendulain or the 5-star Gran Hotel La Perla, both located in the old city in the center of the fiesta.
Tickets for this year’s Feria del Toro are now available. Iberian Traveler is accepting requests through the end of June for a limited number of tendido sombra (lower level shade) and andanada sombra (upper level shade) seats. Some sol y sombra and sol seats are also available.
The bulls of San Fermín 2010
MECA, the charity that operates the Plaza del Toros, has selected the bull ranches, Granderías, for this years Feria del Toro: Miura (Sevilla), Victoriano (Madrid), Cebada Gago (Cádiz), Jandilla (Badajoz), Dolores Aguirre Ybarra (Sevilla), Peñajara (Badajoz) El Pilar (Salamanca) Fuente Ymbro (Cádiz).
Balcony Reservations For the Encierro, The Running of the Bulls
If you want to watch the “running of the bulls” and be comfortable, having a balcony reservation is very important; otherwise you could find yourself in the middle of the crowd, often 30 deep, that fills the only public viewing areas along the route of the encierro.
There are four major public viewing areas. Calle Santo Domingo, at the beginning of the run, has three separate areas; the small square in front of the Museum of Navarra, above where the runners begin, a short barricaded section half-way up Santo Domingo at Calle Mercado, and another small space on the stairs, where a few people can sit, just before the bulls break into the Town Hall Square and Plaza de Consistorial.
There is a narrow section along Mercaderes, at Chapitela, before the bulls turn onto Calle Estafeta. The last area runs from Telefonica to Callejón.
These areas are lined with a double wooden barricade. You can try to find a spot along the outside barricade, but you should arrive by 6:00 am when the carpenters are setting up the final sections, enclosing the route. These areas will be especially crowded the morning of the 7th and for the weekend encierros.
The space between the wooden barricades is reserved for the medical teams, police, runners leaving the run and those needing medical attention.
http://iberiantraveler.com/
While Iberian Traveler is no longer accepting reservations for the first encierro on the 7th, there is some balcony space available from the 8th through the 14th.
Most of our prime viewing balconies can be found along Mercaderes facing La Curva, with one special balcony located above the Banesto Bank. Others are in the Town Hall Square, the Ayuntamiento, and along Calle Estafeta, the long canyon-like section of the run.
Read the May 2010 newsletter at: http://www.iberiantraveler.com/
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
