Rick Steves European Festivals by Steves Rick

Author:Steves, Rick [Steves, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781631218002
Publisher: Avalon Publishing
Published: 2017-11-14T05:00:00+00:00

The bull-running route is readied: Medics staff their stations, workers pick up last night’s party trash, and police make sure runners are up for the task.

Spectators take their places along the fenced-off streets while the runners wait or warm up.

The streets along the route are readied for the onslaught of rampaging bulls and revelers. Shop windows are boarded up, and fencing erected to keep the bulls on course and protect the crowd and buildings. In important spots there’s a double barrier, with a space in between for the journalists and the all-important first-responders. TV cameras are put up everywhere to catch every possible injury—on cranes, with robotic arms run by remote control, and vice-gripped to windowsills. The street—just hours ago filled with throngs of all-night revelers—is now sanitized for a televised spectacle.

The Running of the Bulls takes place every morning at 8:00, but the crowds start massing long before that. (Too early in the morning? For some revelers, it’s still last night.) Spectators claim a good viewing spot along the barriers, until it’s a wall of bodies.

In front of City Hall, the street starts to fill with runners. Most are dressed in the traditional outfit: white pants and shirt, with a red bandana tied around their neck and another around their waist. One legend says it’s to honor Saint Fermín (white for purity) who was martyred (red for blood). Another says it’s the dress of butchers, who supposedly began the tradition. Which legend is true? Frankly, the bulls are color-blind and the runners are blind-drunk, and no one really cares.

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