5 facts about the San Fermín festival in Spain

The San Fermín festival is celebrated every July 7. The impressive runs of brave bulls through the streets of Pamplona (Spain) from this date onwards give it a special international projection, which cannot overshadow the deep spiritual roots of its origin.

We offer 5 relevant facts from a religious point of view about this important festival.

1. Who was San Fermín?

Although his birth in Pamplona is dated to the 3rd century, the first documentary remains of the life and work of the Navarrese saint date back to the 8th century. According to tradition, he was the son of a Roman senator, who was converted along with his family by the preaching of Saint Saturninus of Toulouse.

Fermín was ordained a priest in Tolosa and consecrated as the first Bishop of Pamplona at the age of 24. After preaching in his native land, he went to spread the Gospel to Gaul, where he was captured, whipped, and sent to prison in the town of Beauvais, in present-day France. The death of the governor allowed him to emerge from the trance alive.

As the preaching he carried out in Amiens obtained much fruit, he was arrested again and beheaded on September 25 at the end of the 3rd century or beginning of the 4th century, according to different sources, within the persecution ordered by Diocletian. One of the converts, Senator Faustiniano, recovered his body and gave him a Christian burial.

As detailed on the website Primeroscristianos.com, “Saint Salvius, Bishop of Amiens, found his grave in the year 615, guided by a ray of light.” In the year 1186, Bishop Pedro of Paris brought a relic of the saint to Pamplona and devotion to him became popular.

2. July 7, but not only

San Fermín was first remembered on September 25, coinciding with the date of his martyrdom, his dies natalis. But in 1590 the festival was moved, at the request of the City Council, to July 7 when Bishop Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas was Bishop of Pamplona.

However, on September 25, the date of his martyrdom is still remembered with the so-called San Fermín Chiquito.

The Transfer festival was also commemorated, in memory of the arrival of the saint’s relics to Pamplona on October 10, according to the Royal Academy of History.

On the other hand, the festival of relics is celebrated on the Sunday following January 13, the date on which the remains of San Fermín were found.

3. Liturgical acts

Beyond the well-known bullfighting celebrations and civil holidays, the Archbishopric of Pamplona develops these days an extensive program of liturgical events that begin every July 6 with the celebration of Vespers.

On July 7, at 10 in the morning, the procession takes place and the solemn Mass takes place. The children’s offering is also planned, which this year will take place next Tuesday, July 11, and the so-called Senior Mass, on Thursday the 13th.

On July 14, the liturgical celebrations close with the Mass of the octave of San Fermín.

In addition, since the beginning of the year, the so-called “San Fermín Staircase Masses” have been organized, which coincide with January 1, February 2, March 3, April 4, May 5, June 6 and 7 July, as the popular song says.

4. He is not the boss of Pamplona, ​​but he is of Navarra

Although common belief may attribute to San Fermín the patronage of the city of which he was the first Prelate, the truth is that the patron saint of Pamplona is San Saturnino, whose festival is celebrated on November 29.

San Fermín is the patron saint of Navarra, along with San Francisco Javier. In the 17th century, a conflict occurred between Javieristas and Ferministas. On the one hand, the Pamplona City Council and the Cathedral Chapter proposed the bishop and martyr. On the other hand, the Deputation of the Kingdom and the Company of Jesus opted for the religious missionary.

The conflict was such that Pope Alexander VII had to intervene, who decreed joint patronage in 1657.

5. Protector before the bulls

The race through the streets of Pamplona carried out by dozens of people in front of the six bulls that are fought every afternoon during the festivities begins with a prayer to San Fermín, to ask for protection and to use his “capotico.”

This expression refers to the help that the saint can provide to the runners in case of danger, distracting the bulls that threaten their lives using a supernatural cape (piece of cloth used by bullfighters).

The prayer is performed minutes before the release of the cornupetas, with a traditional song:

“We ask San Fermín,
for being our boss,
guide us in the confinement
giving us his blessing.”

The tune, which concludes with the cry “Long live San Fermín!”, is repeated three times in front of a niche in which there is an image of the Saint a few meters from the corrals where the horned horses wait before running.

Originally published July 7, 2023. It has been updated for republication.