Last running of the bulls of San Fermín 2026 today: the Jandilla say goodbye to the festivities before the ‘Pobre de mí’

The authorization and regulation of the bull runs in Pamplona are not handled on a case-by-case basis through new laws, but by applying an already approved regulatory framework at the state, regional, and municipal levels. The General Courts set the basic regulations on bullfighting events, Navarra develops its own regulations for popular bullfighting events, and the Pamplona City Council applies ordinances and grants specific authorizations. For each bull run, an administrative file is processed before the Regional Community and the city council, certifying the safety of the route, sanitary conditions of the cattle, and emergency plans. The step-by-step scheme is detailed below.

1. Basic state framework

Throughout Spain, Law 10/1991, of April 4, on administrative powers in bullfighting events applies, which defines bullfighting events and establishes the distribution of powers between the State and Autonomous Communities. Its text is available in the Official State Gazette (BOE): Law 10/1991.

This law establishes, among other relevant points for the bull runs:

• The distinction between events in bullrings and bullfighting festivals in public transit areas (where the bull runs fit).
• The requirement of prior authorization for bullfighting festivals in public streets when not held in permanent bullrings.
• The possibility to suspend or prohibit the event if requirements are not met or there is a risk to public safety.

This Law is further developed by regulations, including the Royal Decree 145/1996, Bullfighting Events Regulation, which specifies the types of events, authorization requirements, functions of the presidency, government delegates, cattle controls, etc. It can be consulted in the BOE: State bullfighting events regulation.

2. Specific regulation in Navarra

Navarra, with exclusive competence in public events, has approved its own Bullfighting Events Regulation through Foral Decree 249/1992, of June 29, which applies to all bullfighting events in its territory, including the bull runs. The text can be consulted at Foral Decree 249/1992.

This regional regulation governs, among other key aspects for Pamplona:

• Classification and authorization of events (articles 34 to 38): formal application, documentation about the event, routes, safety measures, and insurance are required, and the authorization procedure is detailed.
• The conditions for events outside bullrings (article 18), where the bull runs on public streets are framed: route isolation, fencing, absence of obstacles, and minimum width of the corridor.
• Traditional popular events (article 88), a category that includes the bull runs.

This framework is complemented by Foral Order 374/2012, of May 29, which specifically develops article 18 of the Regulation and sets, with great technical detail, the characteristics and conditions of the spaces enabled for the celebration of traditional popular bullfighting events, recortadores contests, and Basque-Landes bullfights. It can be consulted at Foral Order 374/2012.

The Order regulates, for example:

• The design and resistance of the fencing (minimum sections, ground fixation, gaps, doors, evacuation exits).
• The placement of obstacles and entertainment elements, prohibited in passing sections of bull runs to not compromise safety.
• The technical documentation (reports, certificates from competent technicians) that must be submitted for the regional authority to authorize the event.

Additionally, from a sanitary perspective, Foral Order 233/2014, of July 9, regulates the identification of fighting cattle in Navarra and the sanitary conditions of animals and facilities used in bullfighting events, requiring cleaning, disinfection, and identification of cattle and farms. It can be seen at Foral Order 233/2014.

3. Specific administrative procedures for a bull run in Pamplona

Based on this already approved parliamentary framework (Law 10/1991, state regulation, and regional regulations), organizing a bull run in Pamplona requires a series of administrative steps, schematically:

• Application before the regional administration: the organizer (during Sanfermines, the City Council itself or another entity depending on the case) submits an application for authorization of a traditional popular bullfighting event, with a report of the event, dates and schedules, route, fencing and safety elements, as well as the sanitary documentation of the cattle required by Foral Order 233/2014.
• Report and authorization from the Government of Navarra: the competent services (Interior, Livestock, Health) verify compliance with Foral Decree 249/1992 and the Foral Orders, may require modifications to the route, fencing, or sanitary measures, and finally issue the resolution authorizing or denying the bull run.
• Municipal actions: the Pamplona City Council, within the framework of its ordinances on public safety, use of public roads, and festivals, approves the specific device:
  • Closure and occupation of the public road along the route.
  • Self-protection and emergency plans coordinated with Municipal Police, health services, and firefighters.
  • Contracting and supervision of the assembly of fencing and other safety elements, according to regional specifications.
  • Mayor’s proclamations or other informative acts regulating schedules, access zones, prohibitions (minors, alcohol, etc.).
• Control during the event: presence of presidency/delegate of the authority, veterinarians, health and police personnel to ensure compliance with the authorization conditions and, if necessary, order suspension if safety or health are at risk.

No further information is available in the consulted sources about specific ordinances of the Pamplona City Council for bull runs, although in practice these municipal ordinances and proclamations specify and complement the described state and regional regulations.

According to municipal regulations and practice, the mayor of Pamplona does not "organize" the Sanfermines alone, but does concentrate key competencies: he directs the municipal government and administration, approves each year the San Fermín proclamation that regulates the functioning of the city during the festivities, presides over and coordinates the Local Civil Protection Board and the General Security Plan, and exercises specific powers such as presiding over the bullfight on July 7 and delegating the other bullfighting presidencies. Additionally, the Mayor's Office formalizes by decree who launches the Chupinazo and ensures compliance with ordinances during bull runs, festive acts, and use of public space. All this is framed within the competencies that the Organic Regulation and local regime legislation attribute to the Mayor's Office as the first municipal authority and responsible for public order.

General framework: what municipal regulations say about the Mayor's Office

The Pamplona City Council defines the mayor as the first municipal authority, with competence to direct the municipal government and administration, represent the City Council, and preside over its collegiate bodies, according to the general scheme of local legislation, collected in the institutional information about the functioning of the council available on the municipal website (functioning of the City Council). Within this framework, the Mayor's Office:

• Issues decrees and proclamations, including specific regulation of the festivities.
• Assumes the competence to maintain public order and coordinate the actions of the Municipal Police, in collaboration with other forces, as reflected in official notes about "Safe, civic, and respectful Sanfermines" (municipal commitment).
• Presides over municipal coordination bodies, such as the Local Civil Protection Board.

Proclamations and ordinances: the "San Fermín proclamation"

The main specific regulatory piece is the San Fermín proclamation, which "is approved each year by the Mayor's Office of Pamplona to regulate the functioning of the city during the festivities," as recognized by the City Council itself in the note about the 2025 proclamation (San Fermín proclamation 2025 and its version in the electronic headquarters, [link]). This proclamation specifies, under the mayor's signature:

• Organizational aspects of central acts: Chupinazo, bull runs, encierrillos, vaquillas.
• Rules on traffic and parking, safety of balconies and facades, and use of glass or dangerous elements in the Chupinazo and other acts.
• Special regime for hospitality (double door, music schedules, use of reusable glasses, terrace cleaning).
• Measures of civility, equality, and fight against sexist and LGTBIfobic aggressions, including the prohibition of selling materials with sexist messages.

From a legal point of view, this means that the normative and police competence of the festivities is articulated through the Mayor's Office: it is the mayor who issues the proclamation, enforces coexistence and public space ordinances, and orders municipal services (Municipal Police, cleaning, etc.) to act accordingly.

Security and coordination: Local Civil Protection Board and General Plan

Another block of competencies is channeled through the Local Civil Protection Board. In 2026, the City Council explained that "the mayor of Pamplona, Joseba Asiron Saez, presided over the first meeting of the Local Civil Protection Board" to detail "the main aspects of the General Plan for the San Fermín festivities" (San Fermín general plan).

This General Plan, approved and coordinated under the authority of the Mayor's Office, defines:

• Police and health devices for each act.
• Traffic restrictions and preferential uses of streets and squares.
• Cleaning, disinfection, and restoration protocols after the festivities.
• Specific device for acts such as the Txupinazo Txiki, with access control, street vending, and prevention of sexist aggressions.

Therefore, the Mayor's Office holds the competence to direct and evaluate daily this plan during the festivities, presiding over the daily meeting of the Local Civil Protection Board scheduled between July 8 and 14.

Bullfighting acts and institutional representation

In the bullfighting field, the Mayor's Office also has its own functions. Through a Mayor's Resolution, the mayor delegates the presidencies of the bullfights of the Feria del Toro "in seven of the eight presidencies," reserving the one on San Fermín day (July 7), as noted in the note "Bullfighting presidencies delegated..." (delegation of bullfighting presidencies). Thus:

• The mayor personally presides over the bullfight on July 7.
• He designates, by resolution, the councilors who preside over the rest of the events (July 8–14).

This power is again supported by the general competencies of representation and presidency of official acts that the Organic Regulation and local legislation recognize to the Mayor's Office.

The Chupinazo and other singular decisions

Regarding the Chupinazo, recent practice — described, for example, by Demócrata explaining the procedure for choosing the citizen candidacy that launches it in 2026 (Chupinazo 2026) — is based on a popular vote, but the administrative formalization is done through a mayoral decree, which specifies who launches the rocket from the balcony of the City Hall. That is, citizen participation is articulated, but formal competence remains with the Mayor's Office.

Other decisions (cultural programming, stages, etc.) are processed through contracts and agreements of areas such as Culture and Festivities, but always under the political direction of the municipal government presided over by the mayor, as reflected in multiple agreements on stages and San Fermín programming published by the City Council (San Fermín stages).

Limitations of available information

In the consulted documentation, there is no single specific text of a "Pamplona festivities ordinance" that details in a codified way all the competencies of the Mayor's Office in San Fermín. What can be reconstructed comes from:

• The general regulation of the City Council and the Mayor's Office (functioning of the City Council).
• The annual San Fermín proclamation ([link] and 2025 proclamation).
• The General Security Plan and the Local Civil Protection Board (San Fermín general plan).
• Mayor's Resolutions on bullfighting presidencies (delegation of bullfighting presidencies).

No more specific normative information is available in the consulted sources; the rest of the competencies are inferred from the basic local regime legislation and the practice described in municipal chronicles and media such as Demócrata, which have followed the news of the festivities and mayor Joseba Asiron (festivities assessment, bull runs, livestock, injury report, political presences, debate on Sanfermines 78).

The safety measures and medical assistance during the San Fermín bull runs are not regulated by a single "San Fermín law," but by a block of state, regional, and municipal regulations. The specific core lies in the Navarra Bullfighting Events Regulation (Foral Decree 249/1992) and the state bullfighting regulations, which set the requirements for fencing, routes, infirmaries, medical personnel, and ambulances. This core is overlapped by civil protection and public health laws (state and Navarrese), as well as Pamplona's ordinances and municipal plans. No specific Pamplona ordinance for the bull runs is available in the sources, but the general framework that applies to them is.

1. Specific state bullfighting and health framework

At the state level, the basis is Law 10/1991, on administrative powers in bullfighting events, developed by the Bullfighting Events Regulation, approved by Royal Decree 145/1996 ([link]). This regulation defines the modalities of bullfighting events, including traditional popular events and those held outside bullrings, a category that includes the bull runs.

In strictly health matters, the key is Royal Decree 1649/1997, of October 31, on sanitary installations and medical-surgical services in bullfighting events ([link], errata correction [link]). This RD, issued in development of Law 10/1991 and the 1996 regulation, establishes, among other aspects:

• Obligation that all bullrings and bullfighting enclosures have a medical-surgical service near the ring or risk area, with operating room, treatment room, recovery area, and sterilization means.
• Minimum availability of resuscitation equipment, defibrillator, anesthesia, immobilization material, and emergency medication.
• Presence, from one hour before the event, of at least one mobile ICU evacuation unit, and prior agreement with a reference hospital center.
• Configuration of the minimum medical team (general surgeon or traumatologist as head of service, medical assistants, anesthetist, nursing staff, and auxiliaries).

These standards are the minimum floor that the Regional Community of Navarra can complete or reinforce.

2. Navarrese regional regulations applicable to bull runs and bullfighting events

Navarra has exclusive competence in public events and has issued its own regulations:

• Foral Law 2/1989, of March 13, regulating Public Events and Recreational Activities ([link]; regional text at [link]), which sets the general framework of administrative control, licenses, safety, and hygiene in venues and activities with crowding.
• Its later amendments, such as Foral Law 26/2001 ([link]) and the recent Foral Law 5/2025 ([link], [link]), which adjust its sanctioning regime and competencies.

The specific regional norm is Foral Decree 249/1992, of June 29, approving the Bullfighting Events Regulation ([link]). Of its content, relevant for bull runs and framed in "events outside bullrings" and "traditional popular events," highlights include:

• Route conditions (art. 18): only events without cattle death can be held outside bullrings, and the place or route must meet specific safety conditions (fencing, gates, escape spaces, etc.). The full detail does not appear in the consulted window but is integrated into the chapter on "events outside bullrings."
• Chapter III – Sanitary conditions: regulates infirmaries (arts. 19-21) and their equipment; and the minimum medical personnel according to event type (art. 22), indicating that infirmaries outside bullrings must have at least one surgeon-experienced doctor, another locatable doctor, and nursing staff, at the organizer's charge and cost.
• Article 23 – Veterinarians: requires the presence of veterinarians (four in the case of the Pamplona bullring) for inspection of corrals, slaughterhouses, sanitary control of cattle and horses, pre- and post-mortem examination, and advising the Presidency on the event's development.

This regulation is complemented by other sectoral Navarrese provisions: Foral Order 374/2012, on characteristics of spaces enabled for popular bullfighting events ([link]); Foral Order 233/2014, on identification and sanitary conditions of cattle and facilities in bullfighting events ([link]); and the Inspection and Control Plan on gaming and public events (Foral Order 98/2017, [link]).

3. Civil protection and public health

Besides the bullfighting block, the bull runs are subject to general emergency and health regulations:

• At the state level, Law 17/2015, of July 9, on the National Civil Protection System ([link]) and the new Basic Civil Protection Standard, approved by Royal Decree 524/2023 ([link]), which set how civil protection and emergency devices must be planned and coordinated for large gatherings.
• Also, Law 33/2011, General Public Health Law ([link]), which requires integrating the public health dimension in the planning of mass events.
• In Navarra, Foral Law 8/2005, on civil protection and emergency care (the base text is not available, but several reforms are: [link], [link], [link], [link]) structures the Navarrese civil protection system, within which special plans for festivities and bull runs are framed.

4. Pamplona municipal ordinances

The analyzed sources do not include a specific ordinance from the Pamplona City Council on the San Fermín bull runs. In practice, the organization is governed by proclamations, municipal emergency plans, and internal provisions that develop this state and regional regulatory block (bullfighting regulation, civil protection, public health), setting the number and location of ambulances, aid posts, fencing, access controls, and coordination with Municipal Police, Foral Police, and health services.

In summary, safety and medical assistance measures in the bull runs mainly rely on the Navarra Bullfighting Events Regulation (Foral Decree 249/1992) combined with the state bullfighting regulation and Royal Decree 1649/1997 on medical-surgical services, integrated within the general framework of the Foral Law on Events, the Foral Civil Protection Law, and Law 17/2015 and Law 33/2011 at the state level.

Additional normative references cited in the research (more general or indirect in nature): [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link].