The San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain has been around since Medieval times. That makes sense when you think about the potential gore. Ernest Hemmingway made the colorful Running of the Bulls famous in the 1920s. It is on many bucket lists a century later.

In 1923 Hemingway made his first visit to San Fermin to cover the nine-day festival while writing for the Toronto Star. He used the visit for the detail for his novel “Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises.”

The fiesta is now one of the biggest street parties in the world and each year the population swells from just under 200,000 to more than a million as people travel from all over the world to experience it. That doesn’t mean you have to run with the bulls! Hemmingway’s grandson, John actually ran with the bulls in 2011. His grandfather never ran in it.

The bulls are big, they are angry, their horns are sharp, and the streets of Pamplona are narrow and slippery. Running with the bulls isn’t for everyone. But seeing the spectacle and enjoying the street parties, clubs, bars, music and dances, make it a must-see. This year the festival runs July 7-14, 2019.

If you plan to catch a few days in Spain, make sure you have the Sapphire Wi-Fi data plan you need to stream all the action. Explore Wifi data plans and don’t get gored by high cost to get wi-fi connection while in Pamplona.

By Gregory Michael