This street festival gained international popularity after the American author Ernest Hemingwayused the celebration as a backdrop for the characters of his 1926 masterpiece “The Sun Also Rises” (“Fiesta” in Spanish). Today, Los Sanfermines continue to be world famous as a place where the brave take the challenge in the Encierro (running of the bulls). However, San Fermin is not only running with bulls. The streets of Pamplona also come alive with music, fireworks, folkloric events, dancing, singing and religious ceremonies.

Los Sanfermines offer visitors an open and hospitable festival, where anything out of the ordinary is welcome and can soon become part of the tradition, as long as it is respectful of others. Los Sanfermines are a festival where nobody is a stranger, where all participants are considered equal, and where the festive spirit never dies throughout its 9 days of celebrations.

The festive spirit of Los Sanfermines is important, but this is also a festival with religious origins. Events such as the procession that takes place on the morning of the 7^th day, help keep this aspect alive. The religious celebration complements, in perfect harmony, the iconic bull -a totem- and Baco, the god of wine. Everyone in the city including locals and outsiders has a great time over these 9 days, a time that always seems to go by too fast.

In summary, San Fermin is an open, multitudinous festival, where you must book accommodations months in advance if you hope to go, and where the town's residents make visitors feel at home. During Los Sanfermines, Pamplona turns into the world capital of happiness, and you, as a Spanish student, have to go discover why when the festival ends at midnight on the 14^th, everyone sings the sad farewell song called “pobre de mí” to express their longing for the next year to come:

"Pobre de mí, pobre de mí, que se han acabado las fiestas de San Fermín”.