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Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Festival of San Fermin, 2010

Last month at the final day of the Spanish festival of San Fermin, a nine-day festival held since 1591. Tens of thousands of foreign visitors descend on Pamplona, Spain each year for revelry, morning bull-runs and afternoon bullfights. Although the tradition of bullfighting remains strong in Pamplona, opposition from animal rights groups remains high, and the parliament of the nearby Spanish province of Catalonia will soon be voting on a motion to outlaw bullfighting altogether. One new recent restriction in Pamplona - no vuvuzelas allowed. Sale of the noisy horns has been banned by the local government. Collected here are several photos of this years events in Pamplona, Spain.


1. Spanish matador Oliva Soto stares at a bull during a bullfight during the San Fermin festival at Pamplona's bullring in northern Spain on July 9, 2010. (RAFA RIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
2. A statue of Saint Fermin is carried during a procession on the saint's day in Pamplona, Spain, Wednesday, July 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Ivan Aguinaga)
3. Revelers hold up traditional red neckties during the "Chupinazo", the official opening of the San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona, northern Spain, Tuesday, July 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
4. Participants in the San Fermin festival crowd together in a square during the "Chupinazo", the official opening of the 2010 San Fermin fiestas on Tuesday, July 6, 2010 in Pamplona, Spain. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
5. Revelers toss one of their number into the air, during the "Chupinazo" in Pamplona, Spain on Tuesday, July 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
6. A man jumps from a fountain to be caught by fellow revelers during the first day of the San Fermin festival on July 6, 2010 in Pamplona, Spain. (Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
7. Fireworks explode over Pamplona, Spain, during the San Fermin Festival on July 8, 2010. (RAFA RIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
8. Figures dance through the streets during the San Fermin festival's "Comparsa de gigantes y cabezudos" (Parade of the giants and the big heads) in Pamplona July 13, 2010. Enormous puppets accompanied by brass bands parade daily through the city during the nine-day-long festival. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso)
9. People watch from balconies over Estafeta street for the run of the Penajara ranch fighting bulls during the San Fermin fiestas on Wednesday, July 7, 2010, in Pamplona, Spain. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
10. Runners head towards the bullring on the fifth day of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 10, 2010. Three people needed hospital treatment following a run that lasted two minutes and fifty three seconds, according to local news sources. (REUTERS/Vincent West)
11. Participants run in front of Fuente Ymbro fighting bulls on the third San Fermin Festival bull run, on July 9, 2010, in Pamplona, Spain. (RAFA RIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
12. Runners sprint alongside Penajara fighting bulls at the town hall curve during the first running of the bulls on the second day of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 7, 2010. (REUTERS/Vincent West)
13. On July 12, 2010, participants run in front of Victoriano del Rio fighting bulls in Pamplona, Spain. (PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/Getty Images)
14. A young bull leaps over revelers in the bullring after the second running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 8, 2010. Six people were hospitalized, two having been gored, following the run, according to local news sources. (REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu)
15. A calf chases after revelers at the bullring during the San Fermin fiestas on Friday, July 9, 2010, in Pamplona, Spain. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
16. A runner is tossed in the bullring following the sixth running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 12, 2010. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso)
17. An unidentified man is attended by medical personnel following the third running of the bulls in Pamplona on July 9, 2010. (REUTERS/Vincent West)
18. Spanish bullfighter Jesus Martinez Barrios "Morenito de Aranda" waits to enter the bullring before the second bullfight of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 8, 2010. (REUTERS/Vincent West)
19. Spanish matador Oliva Soto gives a pass to a bull during a bullfight during the San Fermin festival at Pamplona's bullring in northern Spain on July 9, 2010. (RAFA RIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
20. Blood spurts from a wounded bull during a corrida at the San Fermin festival on July 10, 2010. (PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/Getty Images)
21. A banderillero is gored by a Dolores Aguirre Ybarra bull during a corrida at the San Fermin festival on July 10, 2010. (PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/Getty Images)
22. A couple kiss early in the morning beside to a picture of San Fermin Saint on the Estafeta corner before the start of the eighth and last run of the bulls with Jandilla ranch fighting bulls at San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona northern Spain, Wednesday July 14, 2010. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
23. A reveler sleeps in the street after the sixth run of the bulls at the San Fermin fiesta in Pamplona, Spain, Monday, July 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
24. A child cries next to Caravinagre (Vinegar Face), one of six big head characters known as Kilikis that walk the streets of Pamplona hitting children with sponges and inflated bladders during the San Fermin festival on July 9, 2010. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso)
25. Revelers run with bulls on Santo Domingo street next to Miura bull fighting ranch during the fifth run of the San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona on Sunday, July 11, 2010. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
26. Participants run in front of Dolores Aguirre Ybarra's fighting bulls on the 4th San Fermin Festival bull run, on July 10, 2010 in Pamplona. (PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/Getty Images)
27. A runner is knocked down by a Cebada Gago fighting bull at Estafeta Corner during the second running of the bulls in Pamplona on July 8, 2010. The runner was among six people who were hospitalized following a run that lasted three minutes and thirty seconds according to local news sources. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso)
28. A Miura fighting bull falls at the Estafeta curve during the fifth running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona on July 11, 2010. (REUTERS/Susana Vera)
29. A reveler runs from a Jandilla ranch fighting bull during the San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona on July 14, 2010. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
30. Participants run with Victoriano del Rio fighting bulls on the sixth day of the San Fermin Festival on July 12, 2010, in Pamplona. (RAFA RIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
31. A child is chased by a toy bull during festivities at the bullring in Pamplona on the eighth day of San Fermin festival July 13, 2010. (REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu (SPAIN - Tags: SOCIETY ANIMALS)
32. A "recortador" jumps over a bull during a contest at Pamplona's bullring on the fifth day of the San Fermin festival July 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu)
33. Spanish bullfighter Jose Miguel Perez (Joselillo) taunts a Dolores Aguirre Ybarra ranch bull during the fourth bullfight of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona on July 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Eloy Alonso)
34. Spanish bullfighter Francisco Marco is performs in the second bullfight of the San Fermin fiestas on Thursday, July 8, 2010, in Pamplona, Spain. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
35. Spanish matador Manuel Jesus Cid "El Cid" watches the death of a bull from the El Pilar estate, during a corrida at the San Fermin festival, on July 13, 2010 in Pamplona. (PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/Getty Images)
36. Spanish bullfighter Francisco Marco is assisted after he was tossed by a bull, nearly severing his ear, during the second bullfight of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 8, 2010. (REUTERS/Vincent West)
37. Spanish matador Oliva Soto gives a pass at a bull during a bullfight of the San Fermin festival at Pamplona's bullring in northern Spain on July 9, 2010. (RAFA RIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)
38. Spanish matador Salvador Cortes plunges a sword into a Penajara ranch bull during the first bullfight of the San Fermin fiestas on Wednesday, July 7, 2010, in Pamplona, Spain. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
39. Spanish bullfighter Manuel Jesus Cid "El Cid" gestures to the crowd as a bull spews blood from its mouth and nose during the seventh bullfight of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 13, 2010. (REUTERS/Vincent West)
40. Spanish matador Joselillo holds up a flower and two bull's ears after killing a bull from the Dolores Aguirre Ybarra ranch, at the San Fermin festival on July 10, 2010. (PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/Getty Images)