San Fermín's fourth bull run leaves nine injured as bulls outpace steers in chaotic dash through Pamplona

Bulls seize the lead

Pamplona's fourth running of the bulls at the 2026 San Fermín festival turned chaotic on Friday morning when the six Álvaro Núñez fighting bulls surged ahead of the bell-oxen right out of the Santo Domingo corrals. A black bull took the head of the pack, setting a breakneck rhythm that the steers could not match. The herd covered the course in 2 minutes and 32 seconds, the longest time so far this year, stretched by a straggler that fell behind in the Telefónica stretch. The early sprint produced high-quality runs in the first metres but also dangerous crowding as inexperienced runners found themselves in the path of the animals.

Pile-ups and a crash at Mercaderes

The first moment of real panic came at the Mercaderes curve. The two black bulls leading the group could not hold the turn and slammed into the wooden barriers, pinning three runners against the fence. One bull's horn slid down a runner's back without, it appears, causing a goring wound. Further up the course on Estafeta street, the herd split into two groups, opening gaps that let runners sprint ahead of the horns. The speed and density of the crowd triggered mass falls. Halfway up Estafeta, a pile of fallen runners formed on the ground, and the bulls cleared it with what one report described as incredible nobility, leaping over the heap rather than charging through it.

The falls concentrated into a mound that the bulls avoided by jumping over it with incredible nobility.

A straggler in Telefónica

As the herd entered the Telefónica stretch, a chestnut bull that had fallen behind stumbled over another pile-up of runners on the left-hand side. The animal went down among the fallen men but regained its footing and entered the bullring alone without attacking the crowd. Moments earlier, a runner in a green shirt was trapped between one of the bulls and the barriers near the tunnel entrance, struck in the back but not gored. The split herd and the fallen bull stretched the run's duration, but the shepherds and steers managed to redirect the straggler toward the ring without further incident.

Medical toll: nine injuries, no gorings

The provisional medical report listed nine incidents, none involving a bull's horn. Five runners were transferred to the Hospital Universitario de Navarra (HUN). Among them, a 65-year-old man from Córdoba suffered rib fractures sustained inside the bullring and remains under guarded prognosis. A 39-year-old runner from Bizkaia was treated for multiple trauma and an ankle fracture suffered at Mercaderes. The remaining transfers involved contusions with and without deformity to arms, legs, and one foot. Four additional runners were assessed at the Plaza de Toros for maxillofacial and cranial contusions and a shoulder deformity, with their hospital transfers still under evaluation.

Of the five incidents that required hospital transfer, one presents a contusion with deformity in the arm and the other four contusions to arms and legs of varying kinds.

The bulls and the afternoon ahead

The Álvaro Núñez herd, making its second San Fermín appearance after a debut in 2025, brought six animals ranging from 565 to 595 kilos. The largest, a colorado named Gavilán, weighed 595 kilos, joined by Billetero (black mulatto listón), Juncoso (colorado ojo de perdiz, same weight), and Gruñón (black listón), all at 590 kilos. The lighter pair were another Gavilán (colorado, 570 kilos) and Asustado (black mulatto chorreado, 565 kilos). The bulls are slated for the afternoon corrida featuring matador Morante de la Puebla, whose presence has drawn a notable increase in festival attendance. Two runners injured in Thursday's third running remain hospitalised: a 29-year-old American resident of Navarra, operated on for a goring to the left arm and in stable condition, and a second runner under observation for a frontal contusion.