Authorities in Pamplona have painted a special non-slip coat on to the streets where the city's annual bull-runs start today, in an effort to reduce the number of people gored or trampled. The half-mile (848-metre) route to the city's bullring, down which six bulls will run every morning for the next eight days, has been coated with an acid-based product designed to stop bulls and runners from falling over. "It is there, above all, for the bulls, so they do not fall as they go around the corners," a spokeswoman for the city said.
| Couldn't the bulls just wear cleats? |
Sixteen people were gored by bulls and 40 others needed hospital treatment last year during the runs held to mark Pamplona's patron saint, San Fermin. Fifteen people, including an American student, have died over the past century.
Experienced runners have already tested the new surface, which is meant to increase the number of tiny pores on the street. "The grip is much better," said Miguel Leza, a veteran of 26 fiestas. Other runners were worried that, instead of falling over, they now ran the risk of twisting their ankles.
| That seems to be the lesser of the worries here, but I'm not faster than a stampeding bull. |
Yolanda Barcina, the mayor of Pamplona, said she hoped the surface would prevent the sort of dangerous pile-ups that occur when the bulls turn into Estafeta street. Bulls often end up in a heap there, crashing into the barriers and squashing any runners who get in the way.
| "We had traffic tied up there all day. The evening rush-hour was a mess!" |
The dazed, angry bulls that get up afterwards are doubly dangerous, especially if they lose contact with the rest of the herd.
| Sounds like me after a college bender. |
The event will start with the traditional midday chupinazo that marks the beginning of a round of frenzied drinking. It was unclear whether the non-slip surface would reduce injuries from the San Fermin fiesta's most dangerous activity - falling over drunk.
| A drunk bull is a dangerous bull. |
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