First impressions of Pamplona

When I told my family and friends that I was going to Pamplona, everyone mentioned the bulls. It is quite amazing that this relatively small city, a city of 300 000 inhabitants, is known by almost everyone worldwide.

Though the reality is I do not run to work chased by bulls, in fact I haven´t seen a bull since my arrival two and a half months ago. The bulls are only present for the craziness of the San Fermín festival in July, Pamplona´s pride, where the city is invaded by some million people from all corners of the world.

The rest of the year Pamplona is a pleasant and quiet city nestled into the mountains of Northern Spain. For me Pamplona is just the right size, big enough to have lots of things going on but still small enough to get to know the place well.

The heart of the city is the old town, in Spanish ´casco viejo´, where old buildings tower high over narrow streets. The streets are where it all happens. This is the first thing that surprised me most when I got here, the amount of activity on the streets in the evenings! Quite the opposite of Sweden where people bustle on the streets in the late afternoon doing chores, but in the evenings in the streets are deserted, returning to the comfort of home. In Spain however, in the afternoons around 3pm the streets are empty, literally there is not a soul in sight as everyone is enjoying their lunch at home. Coming on 7pm the streets start filling up and come 9pm the streets are usually crowded. Children, families, youngsters, elders, yes everyone is out!

 

Encierro, Running of the bulls, San Fermín festival Pamplona