Pamplona

Pamplona is the capital of the Autonomous Community of Navarre, a semi-Basque province to the south of the Pyrenees. Pamplona is the Spanish name whereas the Basques call it Iruña - both names are used on signs. It has a very long and tumultuous history, as befits a strategic border city, but is probably best known for its bulls. Every July the notorious San Fermin festival sees the beasts let loose to charge through the city centre from the riverside to the bullring, and thousands come to prove their machismo by dodging alongside, eight days running. A large bronze memorial called Monumento al Encierro depicts a group of six bulls and ten runners in mid-flow, both as a dynamic celebration of the event and a tribute to the fifteen participants who've been fatally gored over the years, the last in 2009. At 8am a firecracker announces that the bulls have been released from the corral, then the 850m dash starts with a fast uphill run towards Town Hall Square. A hormonal mêlée dressed in…