Pamplona - running of the bulls

Stephen, Ai yai yai. I just read an article in Afar magazine about this. http://www.afar.com/afar/spain-lets-loose "It would be impossible to keep track of time during San Fermín if it weren't for two events that stand fixed in the day. One of them is the bullfight, held daily at 6:30 p.m. The other is the encierro, or running of the bulls, which starts at precisely 8 a.m."... " I love many things about my adopted country, but I have never embraced the profound affinity Spaniards feel for those citywide celebrations that, although ostensibly held for the purposes of parading around religious statues or commemorating long-ago battles, inevitably devolve into drinking, shouting, and crowding into spaces too small to contain them. Like African grasshoppers, Spaniards are nice enough on their own, but bring them into close contact with others of their kind, and the buzzing of limbs turns them into a swarm of locusts."...
"As my taxi moved through the streets, the city was quiet but tautly alert. The driver pointed out sites with a predictive gloom. "See that street?" he said. "Tomorrow you won't be able to walk down it." He shook his head forlornly. "That fountain? Full of vomit."

We visited Pamplona but not during San Fermin. A friend of mine ran in the bull run and wrote about it for ESPN's website. The bulls run first thing, so seeing it as a daytrip from Madrid isn't really feasible. The bull fights are in the evening, they probably last about two hours, which would get you back to Madrid pretty late. I hear the bullfights during San Fermin are sold out a year in advance (and scalpers sell fake tickets that won't get you in). You can see bullfights Sundays in Madrid from at least May to September, probably more (also in the evening, so maybe not, if this your last day). As described above, Pamplona is a 24 hour party during the festival. It's packed; hotel prices can be ten times what they are the rest of the year. I imagine it's hard to find parking in the area during the festival too. Olite isn't far from Pamplona, it may be a good staging option. San Sebastian is about an hour by car, but it's pretty expensive with or without a festival in Pamplona.

There is no indication if you are spending any other time in, or your experience of, Spain. I have been to many a bullfight to please the parties I was with and several fiestas with this similar kind of foolishness and ugly behaviour. This is a waste of a valuable day if you only have three. As you do not seem to know what to expect. In Pamplona only, scores of people are injured every year due to damage by bulls or running or drunken antics, but fortunately death by bull is only about two each decade.

Thanks for the replies. We are in Madrid for 3 nights and Barcelona for 3 nights as well. Sounds like we would be better off watching the running of the bulls on TV at 8 AM rather than wasting time slogging through a drunk-fest! Madrid and Toledo sound more interesting to me anyway!

Good decision, Dad!

Yep! And Madrid nightlife starts late and ends late (or early, depending on how you look at it) and I think your son would be more interested in that maybe? :)

Agree with your decision to watch it on TV. The coverage by RTE is outstanding. I watch RTE online every year.