Pamplona continues to enjoy its festivities in honor of San Fermín

USPA NEWS - Pamplona is immersed in its biggest week, dedicated to the patron saint of the festival, San Fermín. A week of festivities for all ages, as evidenced by the fact that this Thursday, the official program is dedicated to children. In addition to the usual family-friendly activities, such as ¡Menudas Fiestas!, Kirolari-Sport Kids, and Birjolastu-Juego Rejuego, this day also includes the floral offering to San Fermín in the Aduana corner, a children's dance festival in the Plaza del Castillo, and rural sports exhibitions in the under-12, under-14, and under-16 categories.

Pamplona City Council hosted the awards ceremony for the 23rd San Fermín International Fireworks Competition for 2024 on Wednesday, once again featuring signature fireworks with collections designed by pyrotechnicians specifically for the San Fermín festival. The city's mayor, Joseba Asiron Saez, and the municipal council presented the awards made public after last year's San Fermín festival. The 2024 San Fermín de Oro award, with a prize of € 5,000, was collected by Danish designer Gunnar Boerge Knudsen, creator of the "Nattens magi" (The Magic of the Night) collection, which was launched on July 7.

The expert jury praised "his intelligence in using the Citadel's space, making the most of the materials used, to offer a balanced collection, full of color and with a measured rhythm throughout the castle." This pyrotechnic design also won the public's award at the last edition of the fireworks. Last year, some 410,000 people watched the fireworks displays in Yanguas and Miranda, Avenida del Ejército and Vuelta del Castillo. The award-winning designer Gunnar Boerge Knudsen has participated in six editions of the fireworks competition and already won the Silver San Fermín in 2018.

This year, the San Fermín festival seems safer, according to the statistics. The second day of the festivities maintained the general trend of the first, with a 48% decrease in the number of reports filed with the Municipal Police. On Monday, July 7, 49 reports were filed, compared to 94 last year, which fell on a Sunday.

On Tuesday, the Municipal Police arrested six people as alleged perpetrators of several of these reported crimes. Once again, theft is the main crime reported during the festival, accounting for 42 of the 49 reports received by the Local Police. Reports were also filed for robbery with force, assault on an authority figure, resistance and disobedience, damage, public health, and other offenses.

Among the incidents, the arrest of a person as the alleged perpetrator of a stabbing incident stands out. The swift action of the Pamplona Local Police saved the life of the victim, who was stabbed near the femoral artery. Local Police managed to stabilize the victim before he was transferred to the University Hospital of Navarra. Shortly after the attack, the National Police arrested the alleged perpetrator at a private home.