Madrid is a great city, you can find anything you can imagine and you can even find encierros! If you couldn’t made it to the San Fermines this year, don’t worry this week you have the chance of running in front of a herd of bulls in San Sebastian de los Reyes in Madrid. The festivities in honor of the Crist of the Remedios can boast of having the best encierros in Spain after Pamplona. This populous town in the north of Madrid has been running the bulls since 1525 in the old quarter of the town where you can even find an Estafeta Street. These encierros are less crowded and can be a great training if you plan to go to Pamplona famous San Fermines.
Photo: Maryna Dymovich. Adapted under license (CC BY-SA 4.0)
If you want to run try not to forget some safety tips in order to enjoy this boost of adrenaline:
- Be aware of what’s going on around you: the danger may not come from the bulls but from other runners instead.
- Do not try to touch or catch the animal’s attention: they just want to finish as soon as possible and any distractions can make them react violently causing injuries to the runners.
- If you fall cover your head with your arms and wait. People will warn you when is save to stand up.
- You run in front of the bulls never in the back of the herd. This can make one of the animals turn around and get confused, one of the riskiest scenarios in an encierro.
- You have to run fast so wear appropriated clothes and shoes.
- Don’t forget this is a dangerous activity if you are not sure just enjoy the encierros from the barrier!
